New Delhi, 23 September (H.S.):

The domestic equity market maintained a firm tone amid volatility in early trading on Wednesday. The market opened on a positive note, and buying support after the opening bell helped both the Sensex and Nifty accelerate their gains. However, profit-booking soon emerged, leading to some moderation in their upward movement. Amid continued buying and selling activity, the Sensex was up 0.25 per cent and the Nifty 0.21 per cent at around 10 a.m.

The BSE Sensex opened 119.24 points, or 0.16 per cent, higher at 74,648.32. Soon after the market opened, sustained buying pushed the index up by more than 280 points to an intraday level of 74,812.74. Profit-booking subsequently set in, causing the index to pare some of its gains. After around two hours of trading, the Sensex was up 182.74 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 74,711.82.

The NSE Nifty also opened higher, gaining 23.15 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 23,352.15. Buying immediately after the opening bell lifted the index by nearly 85 points within the first five minutes, taking it to 23,414.55. Profit-booking then weighed on the index, leading to some moderation in its gains. Amid continued buying and selling, the Nifty was trading 48.45 points, or 0.21 per cent, higher at 23,377.45 at around 10 a.m.

A total of 2,382 stocks were actively traded in the market at that point. Of these, 1,882 were trading in positive territory, while 500 were in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 22 stocks were trading higher on buying support, while eight were under selling pressure. On the Nifty, 26 of the 50 constituent stocks were trading in positive territory, while 24 were in the red.

Among major stocks, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries were trading with gains ranging from 1.17 per cent to 2.10 per cent at around 10 a.m. On the other hand, Coal India, SBI Life Insurance, Wipro, Infosys and TCS were trading lower, with losses ranging from 0.50 per cent to 0.69 per cent.

In the previous trading session on Tuesday, the Sensex had closed 329.91 points, or 0.44 per cent, lower at 74,529.08. The Nifty ended the session down 85.30 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 23,329.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar