New Delhi, 30 April (H.S.):

Amid lingering concerns over continued volatility in the global oil market and a sharp rise in crude‑oil prices, the domestic equity space is witnessing a weak tone in the early rounds of trading today. The session also opened on a negative note, with selling pressure building right after the market opened, further amplifying the downside in both the Sensex and the Nifty.

Although buyers later attempted to stabilise the market by building up buying momentum, the selling pressure was so strong that the decline in both indices continued to widen. After the first hour of trading, the Sensex was trading 1.37 percent lower, while the Nifty was down 1.43 percent.

In the first hour, heavyweight stocks such as Bajaj Finance, Coal India, Wipro, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Finserv traded in the green, gaining between 0.50 percent and 2.91 percent. On the other side, stocks like InterGlobe Aviation, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, NTPC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finserv were trading lower, shedding between 2.57 percent and 3.83 percent.

Across the broader market, 2,963 scrips were actively trading, of which 1,406 were in the green, while 1,547 were in the red. In the 30‑constituent Sensex, only four stocks were trading higher, while 26 were down; in the 50‑component Nifty, nine stocks were in positive territory and 41 were in the red.

The BSE Sensex opened at 77,014.21, down 482.15 points (0.62 percent). Shortly after the opening bell, the index slipped further to 76,502.16 as selling intensified. A brief recovery followed as buyers stepped in and pushed the index higher for a short while, but fresh selling pressure soon resurfaced.

The index later fell to 76,358.73 before another small buying spurt led to a marginal recovery. Amid continuous buy‑and‑sell activity, after one hour of trade by 10:15 a.m., the Sensex was trading 1,064.42 points lower at 76,431.94.

Nifty’s early‑session movement

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened at 23,996.95, down 180.70 points (0.75 percent). After the market opened, the index quickly slipped to 23,872.00 as selling pressure gathered pace. A temporary buying phase then lifted the index briefly, improving its trajectory for a short stretch.

However, this buying phase did not last long. After the first half‑hour, selling resumed and the index’s weakness deepened. By 10:15 a.m., after one hour of trading, the Nifty stood 346.30 points lower at 23,831.35, reflecting a sharper early‑session fall than the Sensex.

On the prior trading day, Wednesday, the Sensex had closed 609.45 points (0.79 percent) higher at 77,496.36, while the Nifty had ended 181.95 points (0.76 percent) up at 24,177.65. Today’s early‑session weakness, therefore, marks a reversal from that positive finish, driven largely by oil‑linked global risk aversion and profit‑booking pressure.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar