New Delhi, October 9(HS): Indian equity markets witnessed a highly volatile session in early trade on Thursday, with both benchmark indices swinging between gains and losses as buyers and sellers vied for dominance. The day began on a positive note, but within minutes of opening, intense profit-taking emerged, pulling the indices lower before strong buying support sparked a brief recovery.The BSE Sensex opened 126.34 points higher at 81,900, climbed to 82,009.32 within the first 15 minutes, but failed to sustain the momentum.

Persistent selling pressure dragged it back, and by 10:00 a.m., the index was trading 20.81 points down at 81,752.85. Similarly, the NSE Nifty started with a 28.15-point jump to 25,074.30, recovered to 25,120.35 after an early dip, but later slipped into the red, trading 8.75 points lower at 25,037.40 by mid-morning.

Top gainers among heavyweight stocks included Tata Steel, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Cipla, Hindalco Industries and Reliance Industries, which advanced between 0.56% and 2.69%. On the flip side, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan Company and Axis Bank declined by 0.30% to 1.36%.

Market breadth remained slightly positive, with 1,222 stocks in the green against 875 in the red out of 2,097 actively traded shares. On the Sensex, 13 constituents were trading higher while 13 were lower, whereas the Nifty saw 29 stocks gain and 21 fall.This choppy trading pattern follows Wednesday’s session, where the Sensex ended down 153.09 points at 81,773.66 and the Nifty closed 62.15 points lower at 25,046.15, as global cues and domestic profit-booking weighed on sentiment.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar