New Delhi, September 3 (HS): Domestic equities witnessed a choppy start on Tuesday, with benchmark indices trading with marginal gains amid sharp buying and selling pressure. After opening on a positive note, markets quickly slipped into a tug-of-war between buyers and sellers, leading to frequent fluctuations in both Sensex and Nifty.

By the end of the first trading hour, the BSE Sensex was up 0.09 percent, while the NSE Nifty was trading higher by 0.08 percent.

Among heavyweight stocks, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Cipla, and Mahindra & Mahindra were up between 0.52–1.37 percent. In contrast, Tata Consumer Products, Trent Limited, Infosys, SBI Life Insurance, and Hero MotoCorp were down 0.57–0.62 percent.

Out of the 2,183 actively traded stocks so far, 1,565 were in the green, while 618 were in the red. Within the Sensex pack of 30 companies, 17 were trading with gains and 13 in losses. On the Nifty-50, 30 stocks advanced while 20 declined.

The Sensex opened stronger at 80,295.99 points, up 138.11 points, but soon slipped to an intraday low of 80,004.60 on profit booking. On the upside, it briefly touched 80,317.62 points. By 10:15 AM, the index was quoting at 80,229.33, up 71.45 points.

The Nifty opened at 24,616.50, higher by 36.90 points, and touched an intraday high of 24,630.70 before dipping to 24,533.20. At 10:15 AM, it was trading at 24,599.90, up 20.30 points.

On the previous trading session (Tuesday), markets had closed on a weaker note, with the Sensex slipping 206.61 points (0.26%) to 80,157.88, and the Nifty losing 45.45 points (0.18%) to close at 24,579.60.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar