New Delhi, April 16 -- The Indian stock market opened higher on April 16, extending its rally for the second consecutive session, but failed to hold gains and slipped into the red in the second half of the trade due to selling pressure.

The Sensex had surged 619 points to 78,730.32 in early deals, while the Nifty 50 climbed 169.65 points to 24,400.95. However, by 14:12 IST, the Nifty 50 was down 0.29% at 24,170 . 10 and the Sensex fell 0.24% to 77,927.27.

Despite the intraday weakness, the broader trend shows signs of recovery, as per experts. The Nifty 50 had staged a strong rebound in the previous session, closing above the 24,200 mark and retracing nearly 50% of its decline from the peak of 26,341 to the recent low of 22,183, with th...