The key equity barometers traded with slight losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 22690 and hit a high of 22693 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto shares declined, while Nifty Media shares advanced.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, edged lower by 465.87 points or 0.64% to 72,601.94. The Nifty 50 index lost 157.85 points or 0.69% to 22,618.25.

The broader market outpaced the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index posted modest losses of 0.46% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index moved lower by 0.29%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1685 shares gained and 2108 shares declined. A total of 221 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Consumer Durables index declined 1.62%. The index has retreated 6.53% in last one month and posted modest losses of 2.83% over last one year. Titan Company, down 4.04%, led the losers followed by Amber Enterp., slipping 1.09% and Thangamayil Jew., edging lower 0.69%, respectively. Out of 14 index constituents, 11 are reporting loss today.

Nifty Metal index shed 1.21%. The index has drifted lower by 4.21% in last one month and spiked 23.70% over last one year. NMDC, losing 2.03%, led the losers followed by Natl. Aluminium, easing 2.02% and S A I L, down 1.54%, respectively. All 15 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty Media index posted modest gains of 0.62% to 1577. The index has moved higher by 3.09% in last one month and inched down 1.43% over last one year. PVR Inox, inching higher 2.93%, led the gainers followed by Sun TV Network, adding 1.83% and D B Corp, up 1.33%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 4 are reporting gains today.

In NIFTY500, C P C L is the top gainer today, posting strong gains of 5.04% to Rs 1477. The counter has rallied 74.04% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 89823.60 in last five sessions compared to 105413.35 over last one month.

Asian markets edged lower on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai composite is marginally higher by 0.31%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is lower by 0.68%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading lower by 0.70%.