The key equity barometers traded with modest losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 24343 and hit a high of 24358 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Media, Nifty Auto and Nifty Chemicals shares advanced, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT shares declined. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, moved lower by 329.34 points or 0.42% to 77,679.91. The Nifty 50 index inched down 62.90 points or 0.26% to 24,303.10. The broader market surpassed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index edged lower by 0.09% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index posted modest losses of 0.20%. The market breadth was fragile. On the BSE, 1793 shares gained and 2193 shares fell. A total of 284 shares were unchanged. Nifty Media index inched up 0.59% to 1600. The index has climbed 5.26% in last one month and edged lower by 3.81% over last one year. Zee Entertainmen, adding 1.61%, led the gainers followed by Sun TV Network, gaining 0.94% and Netwrk.18 Media, up 0.93%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 7 are reporting gains today. Nifty Auto index moved higher by 0.39% to 29320. The index has recorded robust gains of 10.02% in last one month and jumped 21.10% over last one year. Ashok Leyland, inching higher 1.69%, led the gainers followed by Sona BLW Precis., edging up 1.47% and Bosch, up 1.29%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 13 are reporting gains today. Nifty PSU Bank index slipped 1.12%. The index has advanced 5.19% in last one month and registered sharp gains of 24.39% over last one year. Indian Bank, edging lower 2.67%, led the losers followed by Canara Bank, easing 1.30% and Bank of Baroda, down 1.27%, respectively. All 12 index constituents are reporting losses today. In NIFTY500, Ipca Labs. is the top gainer today, posting strong gains of 7.23% to Rs 1859. The counter has jumped 26.96% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 49851.83 in last five sessions compared to 35307.08 over last one month. Asian markets rallied on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is ahead by 0.84%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is firmly higher by 1.59%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is modestly higher by 0.19%.