Sensex down 95 pts, Nifty below 10,750 in late morning trade

The BSE benchmark Sensex lost its initial gains to trade lower by 95.58 points in late morning deals on Thursday on selling in metal, energy, banks, financials and IT counters. Consumer durables, telecom and auto sectors witnessed buying interest.

The index opened on an uptrend after BJP was called to form the government in Karnataka and B S Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister of the state for the third time.

Late morning, the 30-share index was trading at 35,292.30, showing a loss of 95.58 points, or 0.27 per cent.

The broader Nifty-50 index too was trading below the key 10,750-level at 10,713.10, down 28 points, or 0.26 per cent.

Major losers: Tata Steel 2.52 per cent, HDFC 1.34 per cent, Dr Reddy’s 1.32 per cent, IndusInd Bank 0.85 per cent and Infosys 0.81 per cent.

Key Gainers: Gainers included Tata Motors 1.58 per cent, Coal India 1.42 per cent, Wipro 1.22 per cent, HUL 1.00 per cent and Tata Motors DVR 0.65 per cent.

Meanwhile, according to provisional data on Wednesday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 699.22 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 229.06 crore.

Most Asian markets were trading lower. US stocks rose on Wednesday with major indices advancing in a broad rally as investors appeared to shake off fears of rising bond yields, helping equities resume a recent uptrend.