The key equity barometers traded with minor losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 24176 and hit a high of 24198 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Media, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Chemicals shares advanced, while Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto shares retreated.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, edged lower by 55.78 points to 77,313.33. The Nifty 50 index down 44 points to 24,175.05.

The broader market surpassed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index moved higher by 0.04% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index edged higher by 0.03%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2028 shares gained and 1717 shares fell. A total of 246 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Media index rallied 1.30% to 1624. The index has risen slightly by 4.97% in last one month and edged lower by 1.41% over last one year. Netwrk.18 Media, up 3.23%, led the gainers followed by PVR Inox, edging up 1.31% and Zee Entertainmen, gaining 1.15%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 7 are reporting gains today.

Nifty PSU Bank index edged higher by 0.22% to 8559. The index has inched higher by 2.33% in last one month and surged 22.34% over last one year. UCO Bank, adding 1.39%, led the gainers followed by Bank of Maha, inching higher 1.34% and Bank of India, gaining 1.02%, respectively. Out of 12 index constituents, 10 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Metal index inched down 0.58%. The index has climbed 7.90% in last one month and jumped 41.80% over last one year. Hindustan Copper, shedding 6.16%, led the losers followed by Hindustan Zinc, losing 2.46% and Natl. Aluminium, down 1.23%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 12 are reporting loss today.

In NIFTY500, F A C T is the top gainer today, skyrocketing 11.55% to Rs 875. The counter has recorded sharp losses of 22.80% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 9714.67 in last five sessions compared to 8847.91 over last one month.

Asian markets posted modest losses on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai composite is down 0.14%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is slightly lower by 0.19%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is marginally higher by 0.29%.