The key equity barometers traded with modest losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 23151 and hit a high of 23175 in first half hour of trade. Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index shares rose, while Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Chemicals shares retreated.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, 1.39 points to 74,727.88. The Nifty 50 index down 39.60 points to 23,106.55.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index posted modest losses of 0.16% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index lost 0.49%.

The market breadth was unfavorable. On the BSE, 1352 shares advanced and 2557 shares fell. A total of 251 shares were unchanged.

Nifty PSU Bank index advanced 2.39% to 8289. The index has drifted lower by 2.19% in last one month and moved higher by 5.28% over last one year. Punjab Natl.Bank, climbing 6.80%, led the gainers followed by Canara Bank, adding 2.53% and Pun. & Sind Bank, inching higher 2.21%, respectively. All 12 constituents are advancing today.

Nifty Pharma index inched up 0.52% to 25916. The index has eased by 1.39% in last one month and soared 16.64% over last one year. Mankind Pharma, up 1.80%, led the gainers followed by Ajanta Pharma, edging up 1.08% and Glenmark Pharma., gaining 0.83%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 15 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Private Bank index shed 1.37%. The index has moved higher by 1.53% in last one month and edged lower by 1.55% over last one year. Axis Bank, edging lower 4.54%, led the losers followed by Federal Bank, losing 4.04% and HDFC Bank, down 1.87%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 5 are reporting loss today.

In NIFTY500, Punjab Natl.Bank is the top gainer today, jumping 6.80% to Rs 124. The counter is marginally up 0.16% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 583811.50 in last five sessions compared to 588163.91 over last one month.

Asian markets edged lower on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is slightly higher by 0.16%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is lower by 0.52%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading lower by 0.82%.