The key equity barometers traded with limited losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 22716 and hit a high of 22752 in first half hour of trade. Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Chemicals shares gained, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, inched down 44.71 points to 72,989.07. The Nifty 50 index down 27.40 points to 22,694.55.

The broader market performed better than frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index lost 0.19% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index inched up 0.14%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2151 shares advanced and 1610 shares retreated. A total of 225 shares were unchanged.

Nifty IT index rallied 1.52% to 30283. The index has edged up 0.93% in last one month and registered heavy losses of 15.57% over last one year. TCS, adding 2.36%, led the gainers followed by Infosys, up 1.75% and HCL Technologies, edging up 1.59%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 9 are reporting gains today.

Nifty FMCG index edged higher by 0.30% to 44867. The index has drifted lower by 0.22% in last one month and plunged 17.89% over last one year. Nestle India, inching higher 1.49%, led the gainers followed by United Breweries, gaining 1.40% and Britannia Inds., up 0.71%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 8 are reporting gains today.

Nifty PSU Bank index lost 0.98%. The index has eased by 0.15% in last one month and inched up 5.61% over last one year. Bank of Baroda, down 2.67%, led the losers followed by Bank of Maha, slipping 1.59% and Indian Bank, easing 0.92%, respectively. Out of 12 index constituents, 9 are reporting loss today.

In NIFTY500, T R I L is the top gainer today, skyrocketing 13.08% to Rs 343.55. The counter has slumped 38.29% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 245414.83 in last five sessions compared to 337108.70 over last one month.

Asian markets traded slightly higher on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai composite remained flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng remained flat. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is higher by 0.76%.