The key equity barometers traded with limited losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 22732 and hit a high of 22753 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index shares gained, while Nifty Media and Nifty Private Bank shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, decreased by 673.05 points or 0.92% to 72,098.67. The Nifty 50 index moved lower by 113.35 points or 0.50% to 22,666.90.

The broader market performed better than frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index shed 0.92% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.01%.

The market breadth was soft. On the BSE, 1285 shares rose and 2538 shares retreated. A total of 203 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Pharma index moved higher by 0.46% to 26884. The index has slipped by 0.85% in last one month and jumped 24.62% over last one year. Piramal Pharma, inching higher 1.70%, led the gainers followed by Ipca Labs., up 1.52% and Lupin, gaining 1.41%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 14 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Healthcare Index index posted modest gains of 0.33% to 16592. The index has posted modest losses of 1.56% in last one month and surged 16.92% over last one year. Piramal Pharma, edging up 1.70%, led the gainers followed by Ipca Labs., adding 1.52% and Lupin, up 1.41%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 13 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Media index fell 1.30%. The index has inched lower by 3.97% in last one month and posted modest losses of 1.46% over last one year. PVR Inox, edging lower 2.73%, led the losers followed by Saregama India, losing 2.66% and Netwrk.18 Media, slipping 2.12%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 9 are reporting loss today.

In NIFTY500, NCC is the top gainer today, advancing 3.42% to Rs 134.75. The counter has slumped 36.73% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 189263.83 in last five sessions compared to 197313.19 over last one month.

Asian markets posted steep losses on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai composite is modestly higher by 0.08%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading lower by 1.01%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is lower by 1.19%.