New Delhi, 12 February (H.S.):

Indian equities opened weakly today, Thursday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty succumbing to pronounced selling pressure in initial trade, though selective buying tempered the decline after the first 15 minutes. After one hour of trading at 10:15 a.m., BSE Sensex traded 245.34 points or 0.29 percent lower at 83,988.30, while NSE Nifty shed 72.55 points or 0.28 percent to 25,881.30.

Opening Volatility and Intraday Swings

Sensex commenced 265.21 points down at 83,968.43, briefly rebounding to 84,061.62 on buying support before cascading over 400 points to 83,795.65 within the first quarter-hour; Nifty mirrored the turbulence, slipping 47.15 points to 25,906.70 at open and plunging to 25,822.30 amid profit-taking, before partial recovery. Yesterday's close saw Sensex marginally off 40.28 points or 0.05 percent at 84,233.64, while Nifty eked out 18.70 points or 0.07 percent gain to 25,953.85.Blue-Chip

Divergences and Sectoral Splits

Heavyweights bucked the trend selectively: Shriram Finance, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, and ONGC advanced 0.75-1.16 percent, contrasting IT rout with Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, TCS, and HCL Technology tumbling 3.40-4.50 percent. Of 2,659 active stocks, 906 traded green versus 1,753 in red; Sensex's 30 components split 11 gainers against 19 decliners, Nifty's 50 with 18 advances and 32 laggards.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar