New Delhi, Sept 24 (HS): Domestic equity markets came under pressure during early trade on Wednesday , with both benchmark indices—Sensex and Nifty—opening on a weak note amid persistent selling pressure. Despite a brief recovery driven by buying support, both indices continued to trade lower after the first hour of the session.

At 10:15 a.m., the Sensex was down 286.30 points, or 0.35 percent, at 81,815.80, while the Nifty slipped 74.55 points, or 0.30 percent, to 25,094.95.Sector Performance and MoversIn the first hour of trade, heavyweight stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance, Trent Ltd, Asian Paints, and State Bank of India gained between 0.60 percent and 1.17 percent. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Shriram Finance, and Bharti Airtel saw losses ranging from 0.90 percent to 1.62 percent.Market breadth remained evenly poised, with 2,141 stocks actively traded on the exchanges.

Out of these, 1,040 were in the green, while 1,101 slipped into the red. On the Sensex, 12 stocks were trading with gains, while 18 were in negative territory. Nifty reflected a similar trend, with 20 gainers and 30 losers among its 50 components.

The Sensex opened 184.45 points lower at 81,917.65, then slipped further to 81,701.52 in the first half hour due to heavy selling. However, renewed buying interest helped pare losses to some extent.

Similarly, the Nifty started the session at 25,108.75, down 60.75 points, and declined further to 25,049.45 before witnessing a partial recovery supported by selective buying.

Previous Close

On Tuesday, the Sensex had closed 57.87 points, or 0.07 percent, lower at 82,102.10, while the Nifty ended 32.85 points, or 0.13 percent, down at 25,169.50.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar