The key equity barometers traded with minor gains in early trade. Nifty opened at 23998 and hit a high of 24025 in first half hour of trade. Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Metal shares advanced, while Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, inched up 286.01 points or 0.37% to 76,856.36. The Nifty 50 index edged higher by 43.20 points or 0.18% to 23,957.65.

The broader market failed to keep pace with frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index posted modest gains of 0.19% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index moved higher by 0.68%.

The market breadth was well-supported. On the BSE, 2679 shares gained and 1080 shares retreated. A total of 210 shares were unchanged.

Nifty PSU Bank index rallied 1.20% to 8614. The index has posted modest gains of 0.29% in last one month and surged 24.26% over last one year. Bank of Maha, up 3.07%, led the gainers followed by Pun. & Sind Bank, gaining 2.30% and Bank of India, edging up 1.89%, respectively. All 12 constituents are advancing today.

Nifty Private Bank index inched up 0.92% to 27860. The index has edged lower 1.56% in last one month and added 5.81% over last one year. Bandhan Bank, adding 2.47%, led the gainers followed by RBL Bank, inching higher 2.36% and IndusInd Bank, adding 1.42%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 9 are reporting gains today.

Nifty IT index declined 1.27%. The index has inched lower by 1.93% in last one month and slipped 12.97% over last one year. Persistent Systems, edging lower 1.84%, led the losers followed by Tech Mahindra, losing 1.59% and Mphasis, down 1.39%, respectively. All 10 index constituents are reporting losses today.

In NIFTY500, Anant Raj is the top gainer today, rallying 5.83% to Rs 622.15. The counter is modestly higher 9.41% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 78538.83 in last five sessions compared to 138784 over last one month.

Asian markets edged higher on Thursday. China’s Shanghai composite is slightly higher by 0.43%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is modestly lower by 0.14%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is marginally higher by 0.38%.