The BSE benchmark Sensex was down by 55 points in early trade on Tuesday amid renewed selling pressure in realty, capital goods, metal, banking and auto stocks despite firm Asian cues.
The 30-share Sensex resumed higher at 15,436.12 and improved further to 15,448.13 on good buying support from operators, but later fell to 15,280.42 before quoting at 15,324.61 at 10.30 a.m., a net loss of 54.73 points, or 0.36 per cent, from its previous close.
The NSE’s 50-share Nifty index was also down by 17.80 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 4,595.30 at 10.30 a.m..
The major losers in early trade were Jaiprakash Associates (down 4.84 per cent), Jindal Steel (2.90 per cent), Tata Steel (2.88 per cent), Tata Motors (2.45 per cent) and L&T (2.23 per cent).
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs. 450.37 crore on Monday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Meanwhile, Asian markets staged a comeback after an initial decline on Tuesday after Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker forecast U.S. economic growth of between 2 per cent and 2.5 per cent in 2012.
The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea were up by between 0.08 per cent and 0.73 per cent.
Asian shares had declined sharply in the previous session after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il amid an already cautious investor sentiment over fears about the euro zone debt crisis.
