Sensex declines by 33 points on mild selling pressure

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex was down by 33 points in early trade on Wednesday due to mild selling pressure in refinery, auto and FMCG stocks, though the losses were capped by a rise in shares of capital goods, banking and consumer durables companies.

The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed higher at 17,128.83 and hovered in a range between 17,191.12 and 17,057.21 before quoting at 17,066.08 at 1015 hours, a net fall of 33.20 points, or 0.19 per cent, from its last close.

The NSE’s 50-share Nifty Index also moved down by 9.60 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 5,130.60 at 1015 hours.

The major losers in early trade were Reliance Industries (down 1.63 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.62 per cent), Hero Moto Corp (1.49 per cent), Hindalco Industries (1.33 per cent) and Jaiprakash Associates (1.04 per cent).

Meanwhile, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend in early trade after the European Union (EU) said “good progress” was made during the second round of talks on Tuesday between Greek Finance Minister Evangelos, the EU and the International Monetary Fund, which was aimed at staving off a Greece default.

The key benchmark indices in China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and South Korea rose by between 0.01 per cent and 2.18 per cent, while the indices in Hong Kong and Indonesia fell by between 0.42 per cent and 0.66 per cent.