The key equity barometers traded with minor losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 24704 and hit a high of 24704 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Realty, Nifty FMCG and Nifty IT shares declined, while BSE 250 SmallCap shares advanced. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, inched up 544.39 points or 0.70% to 78,639.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 158.45 points or 0.64% to 24,615.85. The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index edged higher by 0.73% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index increased by 1.32%. The market breadth was unfavorable. On the BSE, 0 shares advanced and 0 shares retreated. A total of 2620 shares were unchanged. In NIFTY500, Advance Petroch. is the top gainer today, remained flat to Rs 156.40. The counter has retreated 13.35% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 35 in last five sessions compared to 34 over last one month. Asian markets traded slightly lower on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai composite is modestly higher by 0.16%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.61%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is modestly lower by 0.35%.