The key equity barometers traded with marginal losses in early trade. Nifty opened at 22524 and hit a high of 22524 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index shares advanced, while Nifty FMCG and Nifty PSU Bank shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, edged lower by 469.82 points or 0.64% to 72,654.01. The Nifty 50 index retreated 187.95 points or 0.83% to 22,412.05.

The broader market outpaced the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index lost 0.59% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.93%.

The market breadth was soft. On the BSE, 1326 shares rose and 2711 shares declined. A total of 236 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Pharma index posted modest gains of 0.55% to 25470. The index has shed 6.71% in last one month and gained 12.67% over last one year. Dr Reddy's Labs, up 3.31%, led the gainers followed by Mankind Pharma, adding 1.44% and Torrent Pharma., inching higher 1.29%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 11 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Healthcare Index index moved higher by 0.52% to 15468. The index has fallen 8.78% in last one month and inched up 2.67% over last one year. Dr Reddy's Labs, gaining 3.31%, led the gainers followed by Mankind Pharma, edging up 1.44% and Torrent Pharma., up 1.29%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 11 are reporting gains today.

Nifty FMCG index shed 1.45%. The index has declined 7.74% in last one month and slumped 24.82% over last one year. Tata Consumer, down 3.21%, led the losers followed by Dabur India, easing 2.19% and Hind. Unilever, edging lower 1.59%, respectively. All 15 index constituents are reporting losses today.

In NIFTY500, Tata Chemicals is the top gainer today, recording robust gains of 5.71% to Rs 608.35. The counter has recorded sharp losses of 36.24% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 75493.40 in last five sessions compared to 104310.10 over last one month.

Asian markets edged lower on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is down 0.18%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is slightly higher by 0.39%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is marginally lower by 0.39%.