Mumbai, July 30 -- The benchmark equity indices opened marginally higher on Thursday, with the Nifty trading above the 24,250 mark in early trade. IT shares extended gains for the fifth consecutive trading session.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 118.84 points or 0.15% to 77,535.76. The Nifty 50 index lost 19.75 points or 0.09% to 24,230.45.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.37% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 0.66%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,525 shares rose and 2,059 shares fell. A total of 218 shares were unchanged.

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