The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in early trade. Nifty opened at 23195 and hit a high of 23268 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Chemicals shares rose, while Nifty IT and Nifty Media shares retreated.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, up 105.53 points to 74,441.98. The Nifty 50 index edged higher by 11.10 points or 0.05% to 23,228.70.

The broader market lagged behind the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index moved higher by 0.61% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index increased by 0.86%.

The market breadth was well-supported. On the BSE, 2641 shares advanced and 1044 shares declined. A total of 210 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Auto index inched up 0.63% to 27063. The index has retreated 7.83% in last one month and inched down 0.93% over last one year. TVS Motor Co., gaining 1.62%, led the gainers followed by Uno Minda, up 1.52% and Samvardh. Mothe., adding 1.45%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 13 are reporting gains today.

Nifty PSU Bank index edged higher by 0.59% to 8324. The index has eased by 4.94% in last one month and posted strong gains of 16.08% over last one year. Bank of Maha, edging up 1.85%, led the gainers followed by Punjab Natl.Bank, inching higher 1.67% and Bank of India, up 1.27%, respectively. Out of 12 index constituents, 11 are reporting gains today.

Nifty IT index edged lower by 0.96%. The index has lost 5.58% in last one month and posted steep losses of 19.67% over last one year. TCS, down 0.79%, led the losers followed by HCL Technologies, losing 0.78% and Oracle Fin.Serv., slipping 0.65%, respectively. All 10 index constituents are reporting losses today.

In NIFTY500, Syrma SGS Tech. is the top gainer today, soaring 7.19% to Rs 1619.15. The counter has jumped 84.82% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 78055.20 in last five sessions compared to 134242.73 over last one month.

Asian markets traded slightly lower on Thursday. China’s Shanghai composite is marginally lower by 0.36%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.90%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading higher by 0.65%.