The key equity barometers traded with limited losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 24472 and hit a high of 24473 in first half hour of trade. Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto shares rose, while Nifty FMCG and Nifty Healthcare Index shares retreated. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, moved lower by 126.89 points or 0.16% to 78,027.36. The Nifty 50 index edged lower by 48.70 points or 0.20% to 24,423. The broader market performed better than frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index lost 0.16% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index edged higher by 0.11%. The market breadth was favorable. On the BSE, 2068 shares gained and 1679 shares declined. A total of 226 shares were unchanged. Nifty PSU Bank index inched up 0.93% to 8720. The index has posted modest gains of 2.12% in last one month and posted strong gains of 22.86% over last one year. Punjab Natl.Bank, gaining 2.90%, led the gainers followed by Union Bank (I), inching higher 2.11% and Bank of India, edging up 1.58%, respectively. Out of 12 index constituents, 11 are reporting gains today. Nifty Metal index edged higher by 0.82% to 13208. The index has edged up 3.96% in last one month and registered sharp gains of 42.48% over last one year. Natl. Aluminium, advancing 8.06%, led the gainers followed by Hindalco Inds., adding 3.05% and Hindustan Copper, up 1.79%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 8 are reporting gains today. Nifty FMCG index moved lower by 0.67%. The index has edged lower 0.05% in last one month and slipped 11.79% over last one year. Godrej Consumer, declining 8.85%, led the losers followed by Marico, edging lower 1.89% and Tata Consumer, slipping 1.67%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 13 are reporting loss today. In NIFTY500, Finolex Cables is the top gainer today, rallying 12.50% to Rs 1359. The counter has posted strong gains of 42.79% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 153172.33 in last five sessions compared to 81678.14 over last one month. Asian markets were marginally lower on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai composite is up 0.32%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is firmly lower by 1.24%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is slightly higher by 0.48%.