The key equity barometers traded with marginal gains in early trade. Nifty opened at 24285 and hit a high of 24313 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Metal, Nifty IT and Nifty Realty shares gained, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Consumer Durables shares retreated. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, posted modest gains of 58.40 points to 77,599.23. The Nifty 50 index up 28.25 points to 24,280.25. The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index edged higher by 0.25% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.50%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2855 shares rose and 1856 shares declined. A total of 282 shares were unchanged. Nifty Metal index rose 1.06% to 13312. The index has inched higher by 4.35% in last one month and soared 38.75% over last one year. S A I L, edging up 3.08%, led the gainers followed by Welspun Corp, adding 2.90% and Hindalco Inds., gaining 1.72%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 12 are reporting gains today. Nifty IT index inched up 0.77% to 30766. The index has advanced 5.34% in last one month and declined 14.53% over last one year. LTM, up 1.51%, led the gainers followed by HCL Technologies, inching higher 1.46% and Infosys, edging up 1.42%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 9 are reporting gains today. Nifty PSU Bank index posted modest losses of 0.63%. The index has moved higher by 0.95% in last one month and posted strong gains of 21.80% over last one year. Bank of Baroda, slipping 1.62%, led the losers followed by Canara Bank, losing 1.08% and SBI, down 0.42%, respectively. Out of 12 index constituents, 6 are reporting loss today. In NIFTY500, L T Foods is the top gainer today, spiking 10.10% to Rs 470.40. The counter is down 4.73% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 35744 in last five sessions compared to 65331.25 over last one month. Asian markets recorded sharp declines on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is trading lower by 0.82%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is substantially lower by 2.01%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is modestly lower by 0.35%.