New Delhi, September 23 (HS): Domestic equities came under pressure in early trade on Tuesday, with benchmark indices retreating after a flat and cautious start. The Sensex opened marginally lower, while the Nifty began with a slight uptick. However, selling pressure soon intensified, eroding initial gains and pushing both indices into negative territory within the first hour of trade. Attempts at selective buying did little to arrest the decline.

At 10:15 a.m., after an hour of trading, the Sensex was down 136.04 points, or 0.17 percent, at 82,023.93. The Nifty slipped 48.75 points, or 0.19 percent, to 25,153.60.

The Sensex had opened with a modest dip of 12.60 points at 82,147.37 but briefly surged more than 150 points within the first five minutes, hitting 82,307.50 on early buying support. The momentum quickly faded as profit-booking set in, dragging the index lower.Similarly, the Nifty opened marginally higher by 6.65 points at 25,209 and climbed to 25,250.85 in the first few minutes, only to slip sharply thereafter to an intraday low of 25,110.05 before stabilizing.

In sectoral and stock-specific action, heavyweight gainers included Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finserv, and Tata Steel, which traded with gains ranging between 0.58 percent and 2.88 percent. On the downside, Asian Paints, Tata Consumer Products, Trent Ltd, SBI Life Insurance, and Titan Company were among key laggards, falling between 0.49 percent and 0.94 percent.

Market breadth remained weak in the broader trade. Out of 2,155 actively traded stocks, 1,028 were in the green, while 1,127 stocks traded lower. On the Sensex, 11 of the 30 constituents were trading higher, while 19 were in the red. Among Nifty’s 50 shares, 18 advanced while 32 declined.On Monday, markets had already ended on a negative note, adding to the early caution. The Sensex had settled 466.26 points lower, or 0.56 percent, at 82,159.97, while the Nifty ended 124.70 points down, or 0.49 percent, at 25,202.35.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar