The key equity barometers traded with slight losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 23270 and hit a high of 23277 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Realty, Nifty Metal and Nifty Consumer Durables shares declined, while Nifty IT shares advanced.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 627.90 points or 0.84% to 74,274.69. The Nifty 50 index fell 218.85 points or 0.93% to 23,258.95.

The broader market performed better than frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index retreated 1.29% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index shed 1.33%.

The market breadth was fragile. On the BSE, 970 shares gained and 2915 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Realty index registered heavy losses of 3.20%. The index has eased by 2.88% in last one month and inched down 1.33% over last one year. Lodha Developers, shedding 5.50%, led the losers followed by Godrej Propert., declining 5.21% and Prestige Estates, slipping 4.01%, respectively. All 10 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty Metal index declined 2.97%. The index has inched higher by 0.59% in last one month and soared 36.33% over last one year. Natl. Aluminium, easing 4.40%, led the losers followed by Hindalco Inds., down 4.04% and Hindustan Copper, losing 3.79%, respectively. All 15 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty IT index moved higher by 0.32% to 28984. The index has retreated 8.66% in last one month and slumped 20.16% over last one year. Tech Mahindra, edging up 1.47%, led the gainers followed by Infosys, adding 0.88% and HCL Technologies, inching higher 0.51%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 6 are reporting gains today.

In NIFTY500, LIC Housing Fin. is the top gainer today, advancing 4.41% to Rs 560.75. The counter is marginally down 1.52% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 192500.67 in last five sessions compared to 127421.83 over last one month.

Asian markets posted steep losses on Friday. China’s Shanghai composite is sharply lower by 1.82%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.92%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is firmly lower by 2.69%.