The key equity barometers traded with limited losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 22678 and hit a high of 22692 in first half hour of trade. Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG and Nifty 50 shares declined, while Nifty Auto shares advanced.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, decreased by 692.18 points or 0.94% to 72,906.49. The Nifty 50 index lost 171.40 points or 0.75% to 22,578.35.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index edged lower by 0.27% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index moved lower by 0.29%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1642 shares rose and 2106 shares declined. A total of 191 shares were unchanged.

Nifty IT index posted steep losses of 3.21%. The index has recorded robust gains of 14.61% in last one month and slipped 10.90% over last one year. Infosys, slipping 4.13%, led the losers followed by Mphasis, edging lower 3.63% and Coforge, down 3.42%, respectively. All 10 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty FMCG index fell 1.63%. The index has eased by 4.74% in last one month and tanked 23.59% over last one year. Tata Consumer, easing 2.45%, led the losers followed by Varun Beverages, losing 2.40% and Patanjali Foods, easing 2.37%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 13 are reporting loss today.

Nifty Auto index added 0.32% to 25422. The index has slipped by 4.46% in last one month and posted modest losses of 7.05% over last one year. Hyundai Motor I, edging up 3.29%, led the gainers followed by Bajaj Auto, adding 2.68% and Uno Minda, up 1.36%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 9 are reporting gains today.

In NIFTY500, United Breweries is the top gainer today, recording robust gains of 12.57% to Rs 1287.40. The counter has posted steep losses of 37.24% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 7981.80 in last five sessions compared to 9906.30 over last one month.

Asian markets soared on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai composite is ahead by 0.72%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is slightly higher by 0.32%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is significantly higher by 1.36%.