The key equity barometers traded with notable losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 22688 and hit a high of 22698 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Metal, Nifty Chemicals and Nifty Auto shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, posted modest losses of 588.88 points or 0.80% to 73,120.81. The Nifty 50 index declined 250.95 points or 1.10% to 22,560.40.

The broader market performed better than frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index retreated 1.39% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.15%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 932 shares rose and 2859 shares retreated. A total of 206 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Metal index shed 2.24%. The index has declined 8.58% in last one month and posted strong gains of 15.90% over last one year. Hindustan Zinc, edging lower 2.52%, led the losers followed by Hindustan Copper, down 2.46% and Natl. Aluminium, losing 2.23%, respectively. All 15 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty Chemicals index fell 2.13%. The index has lost 7.26% in last one month and posted modest losses of 6.88% over last one year. SRF, slipping 3.30%, led the losers followed by Himadri Special, easing 2.64% and Solar Industries, edging lower 2.56%, respectively. Out of 21 index constituents, 20 are reporting loss today.

Nifty Auto index retreated 1.83%. The index has fallen 7.20% in last one month and lost 7.47% over last one year. Sona BLW Precis., losing 2.90%, led the losers followed by Tube Investments, easing 2.53% and Bharat Forge, easing 2.36%, respectively. All 15 index constituents are reporting losses today.

In NIFTY500, International Gemological Instit is the top gainer today, soaring 9.99% to Rs 352.35. The counter is slightly down 5.03% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 124153 in last five sessions compared to 52153.81 over last one month.

Asian markets recorded sharp declines on Thursday. China’s Shanghai composite is trading lower by 0.89%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is substantially lower by 3%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is significantly lower by 1.76%.