New Delhi, 14 July (H.S.):

India's domestic equity markets remained under pressure during early trading on Tuesday, with both the Sensex and the Nifty opening lower amid persistent selling. Although buying interest briefly emerged after the opening bell, helping both benchmark indices recover part of their initial losses, renewed selling after the first 10 minutes of trade pushed the markets deeper into negative territory.

After the first hour of trading, the BSE Sensex was down 0.62 per cent, while the NSE Nifty had declined 0.53 per cent.

Among the blue-chip stocks, Cipla, Hindalco Industries, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Nestlé India were the top gainers, rising between 0.84 per cent and 1.58 per cent. On the other hand, Shriram Finance, InterGlobe Aviation, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bajaj Finance were the worst performers, falling between 2.11 per cent and 3.49 per cent.

During the first hour of trading, 2,703 stocks were actively traded on the market. Of these, 866 advanced, while 1,837 declined.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, only eight stocks traded in positive territory, while 22 remained under selling pressure. On the NSE Nifty, 19 of the 50 constituent stocks were trading higher, whereas 31 were in the red.

The BSE Sensex opened 344.06 points, or 0.44 per cent, lower at 77,272.34. Early buying helped the index recover nearly 130 points within the first 10 minutes, touching an intraday high of 77,402.79. However, selling pressure soon resurfaced, dragging the benchmark steadily lower.

By around 10:00 a.m., the Sensex had fallen more than 550 points to an intraday low of 77,063.41. At 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trading, the index was down 481.32 points at 77,135.08.

The NSE Nifty also opened lower, declining 143 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 24,068. Early buying lifted the index by nearly 90 points to 24,157.10 during the first 10 minutes of trade. However, the recovery proved short-lived as renewed selling dragged the benchmark lower.

At around 10:00 a.m., the Nifty had slipped more than 160 points to an intraday low of 24,050.55. Buyers then attempted another recovery, resulting in a modest rebound. At 10:15 a.m., the Nifty was trading at 24,083.75, down 127.25 points.

In the previous trading session on Monday, the BSE Sensex had closed 47.01 points, or 0.06 per cent, higher at 77,616.40, while the NSE Nifty ended almost flat, gaining 4.10 points, or 0.02 per cent, to settle at 24,211.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar