The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in early trade. Nifty opened at 24581 and hit a high of 24621 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Pharma, Nifty Auto and Nifty Consumer Durables shares gained, while Nifty PSU Bank shares retreated. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, down 131.09 points to 78,368.08. The Nifty 50 index posted modest gains of 19.70 points or 0.08% to 24,590.35. The broader market performed better than frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index moved lower by 0.11% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index moved higher by 0.03%. The market breadth was favorable. On the BSE, 2250 shares rose and 1733 shares fell. A total of 250 shares were unchanged. Nifty Pharma index moved higher by 0.64% to 26713. The index has edged up 3.37% in last one month and recorded robust gains of 22.40% over last one year. Sai Life, edging up 2.78%, led the gainers followed by Piramal Pharma, up 1.77% and Wockhardt, gaining 1.40%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 17 are reporting gains today. Nifty Auto index edged higher by 0.60% to 29826. The index has risen 8.43% in last one month and surged 24.53% over last one year. Hero Motocorp, adding 3.18%, led the gainers followed by Bosch, inching higher 2.76% and Samvardh. Mothe., adding 2.11%, respectively. Out of 15 index constituents, 12 are reporting gains today. Nifty PSU Bank index moved lower by 0.36%. The index has advanced 5.88% in last one month and spiked 27.16% over last one year. Bank of India, edging lower 1.07%, led the losers followed by SBI, slipping 0.81% and Indian Bank, down 0.68%, respectively. Out of 12 index constituents, 10 are reporting loss today. In NIFTY500, Hitachi Energy is the top gainer today, registering sharp gains of 8.62% to Rs 35387.10. The counter is sharply higher by 57.41% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 6190.83 in last five sessions compared to 7798.50 over last one month. Asian markets surged on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is slightly higher by 0.20%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is ahead by 0.60%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is significantly higher by 1.94%.