Sensex down 59 points in late morning deals

A view of the BSE building in Mumbai. File photo

Erasing early gains, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday lost 59 points in the late morning trade due to sustained selling pressure mainly in auto, realty, consumer durables and oil&gas counters, amid mixed Asian cues.

The 30-share barometer resumed higher at 18,926.21 and firmed up further to 18,987.48. But declined afterwards to 18,798.98 before quoting at 18,824.64 at 1030 hrs, a net loss of 59.55 points, or 0.32 per cent, from yesterday’s close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 18.45 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 5,675.95 at 1030 hrs.

Major losers were Tata Motors (4.27 per cent), Bajaj Auto (1.64 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.38 per cent), HUL (1.09 per cent), NTPC (1.00 per cent) and Ongc (0.81 per cent).

Asian stocks edged higher early trade, after China’s manufacturing sector picked up in March, showing signs of recovery in the world’s second largest economy.

Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Japan, China, Taiwan and Indonesia were up by 0.05 per cent to 1.29 per cent.

However, Key indices in Hong Kong and South Korea fell by 0.05 per cent and 0.14 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 236.72 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.