The key equity barometers traded with marginal losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 24343 and hit a high of 24358 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Metal, Nifty Auto and Nifty Realty shares advanced, while Nifty IT and Nifty PSU Bank shares fell. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, inched down 355.15 points or 0.46% to 77,654.10. The Nifty 50 index moved lower by 101 points or 0.41% to 24,265. The broader market outpaced the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index posted modest losses of 0.03% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index lost 0.16%. The market breadth was unfavorable. On the BSE, 2043 shares rose and 2876 shares declined. A total of 255 shares were unchanged. Nifty Metal index added 0.36% to 12989. The index has moved higher by 2.08% in last one month and recorded robust gains of 40.42% over last one year. Hindustan Copper, advancing 7.21%, led the gainers followed by Natl. Aluminium, adding 3.43% and Hindustan Zinc, inching higher 1.80%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 10 are reporting gains today. Nifty Auto index moved higher by 0.19% to 29262. The index has soared 10.02% in last one month and registered sharp gains of 21.10% over last one year. Sona BLW Precis., up 2.18%, led the gainers followed by Uno Minda, gaining 1.94% and Ashok Leyland, edging up 1.34%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 10 are reporting gains today. Nifty IT index fell 1.48%. The index has advanced 9.17% in last one month and lost 9.98% over last one year. Mphasis, easing 2.65%, led the losers followed by Infosys, losing 2.17% and HCL Technologies, edging lower 1.88%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 8 are reporting loss today. In NIFTY500, Hindustan Copper is the top gainer today, soaring 7.21% to Rs 567. The counter has soared 120.26% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 1167676.83 in last five sessions compared to 649737.96 over last one month. Asian markets surged on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is substantially higher by 1.26%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is firmly higher by 1.67%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is ahead by 0.74%.