The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in early trade. Nifty opened at 24285 and hit a high of 24313 in first half hour of trade. Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty shares rose, while Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index shares fell. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 150.06 points or 0.19% to 77,690.89. The Nifty 50 index inched up 51 points or 0.21% to 24,303. The broader market failed to keep pace with frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index edged higher by 0.31% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index moved higher by 0.62%. The market breadth was favorable. On the BSE, 2653 shares gained and 1344 shares retreated. A total of 302 shares were unchanged. Nifty IT index rose 1.01% to 30842. The index has added 5.34% in last one month and retreated 14.53% over last one year. Infosys, up 1.76%, led the gainers followed by HCL Technologies, adding 1.11% and Oracle Fin.Serv., inching higher 0.80%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 9 are reporting gains today. Nifty Metal index posted modest gains of 0.75% to 13271. The index has inched higher by 4.35% in last one month and jumped 38.75% over last one year. S A I L, edging up 2.07%, led the gainers followed by Jindal Stain., gaining 1.21% and Hindalco Inds., edging up 1.18%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 13 are reporting gains today. Nifty Pharma index edged lower by 0.51%. The index has posted modest gains of 1.02% in last one month and posted strong gains of 18.86% over last one year. Ajanta Pharma, easing 1.36%, led the losers followed by Zydus Lifesci., down 1.25% and Biocon, losing 0.72%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 19 are reporting loss today. In NIFTY500, Vishal Mega Mart is the top gainer today, recording robust gains of 6.76% to Rs 110.60. The counter has posted steep losses of 31.16% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 2107136.67 in last five sessions compared to 1158519 over last one month. Asian markets tumbled on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is lower by 0.71%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is firmly lower by 2.13%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading lower by 0.65%.