The key equity barometers traded flat in early trade. Nifty opened at 22964 and hit a high of 22977 in first half hour of trade. Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index shares rose, while Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Chemicals shares fell.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, up 153.80 points to 74,304.84. The Nifty 50 index 0.30 points or remained flat to 22,936.45.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index moved lower by 0.48% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index retreated 0.97%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1446 shares advanced and 2284 shares declined. A total of 214 shares were unchanged.

Nifty IT index advanced 1.41% to 32314. The index has posted strong gains of 15.17% in last one month and retreated 11.70% over last one year. Coforge, up 3.82%, led the gainers followed by Mphasis, adding 1.83% and Wipro, inching higher 1.82%, respectively. All 10 constituents are advancing today.

Nifty Pharma index climbed 1.01% to 26980. The index has eased by 0.83% in last one month and recorded robust gains of 19.08% over last one year. Laurus Labs, gaining 3.29%, led the gainers followed by Piramal Pharma, edging up 1.82% and Ipca Labs., adding 1.51%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 15 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Consumer Durables index slipped 1.73%. The index has fallen 5.33% in last one month and moved lower by 9.74% over last one year. Blue Star, edging lower 4.88%, led the losers followed by Dixon Technolog., down 3.45% and Amber Enterp., easing 2.33%, respectively. Out of 14 index constituents, 13 are reporting loss today.

In NIFTY500, Vedanta Oil and Gas is the top gainer today, recording robust gains of 8.43% to Rs 30.22. The counter remained flat in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 2312593.50 in last five sessions compared to 2116109.14 over last one month.

Asian markets declined on Friday. China’s Shanghai composite is modestly lower by 0.30%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is substantially higher by 1.57%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is sharply lower by 2.47%.