Sensex slips from early gains, down 26 pts in late morning

The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped from its initial gains while trading nearly flat in late morning deals following bouts of profit-booking in IT and Teck stocks amid subdued Asian cues. Caution was also witnessed ahead of earning results of key heavyweights like Axis Bank.

However, buying was seen in power, industrials, utilites, telecom, capital goods and realty stocks.

The 30-share index resumed higher at 27,721.72 and hovered between 27,764.19 and 27,646.21. It was quoting 27,684.85 at 1100 hrs, showing a loss of 25.67 points or 0.09 per cent.

While, NSE 50-share Nifty also trading a tad lower by 3.70 points or 0.04 per cent at 8,506.40.

Major losers were HUL 1.19 per cent, Infosys 1.08 per cent, Coal India 0.99 per cent, Bajaj Auto 0.90 per cent, Wipro 0.87 per cent and SBI 0.69 per cent.

Notable gainers included Power Grid 2.12 per cent, GAIL 1.71 per cent, Tata Motors 1.08 per cent, L&T 1.01 per cent and Adani Ports 0.76 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 420.22 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Overseas, Asian markets were trading lower after Bank of Japan (BoJ) chief Haruhiko Kuroda dashed hopes for so-called “helicopter money”, triggering the yen’s steepest rally in a month and weakening the outlook for exporters in Tokyo.

The US stocks snapped a nine-day string of gains, as a hot equity market cooled ahead of key central bank meetings.