Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty started off the morning session on a strong note but could not hold on to their gains in late morning trade following fresh bouts of selling in Consumer Durables, FMCG, Realty, Power, Auto and Telecom sectors amid lower Asian cues.
The Sensex slipped by 37.08 points, or 0.12 per cent to 31,272.41 while the Nifty shed 8.50 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 9,666.60 at 1200 hrs. IT and Teck stocks surged on sustained buying and positive economic data in the US -- the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT companies.
Major losers were ITC 1.92 per cent, ONGC 1.71 per cent, Asianpaints 1.33 per cent, Larsen 1.20 per cent, Powergrid 1.19 per cent and Bharti Airtel 1.15 per cent, However, TCS fell 3.42 per cent followed by Infosys 1.90 per cent and GAIL 1.03 per cent.
Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 476.64 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges and the Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) had also bought shares worth a net Rs 13.62 crore.
Overseas, Asian stocks declined following a lower closing at Wall Street yesterday and the impact of diplomatic tensions between Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations gradually sunk in. South Korean markets are closed for Memorial Day.
