Sensex fails to maintain initial gains, declines 24 pts

The S&P BSE benchmark sensex failed to maintain its initial gains, slipping 24 points in the late morning trade due to fresh selling pressure mainly in IT and Teck counters amidst fall in Asian market.
Infosys dropped by 2.55 per cent even as the company said it has signed a five-year agreement with Lansforsakringar AB (LFAB) to provide application development and management support for its life and non-life insurance business.
The sensex resumed higher at 21,872.68 and firmed up further to 21,893.42 on initial buying mainly in Refinery, Power, Metal and Banking sectors in view good foreign capital inflows.
However, it declined afterwards to 21,798.07 before quoting at 21,808.50 at 0950hrs, showing a loss of 24.11 pts or 0.11 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also eased by 2.75 points or 0.04 per cent to 6,513.90 at 0950hrs.
Other major losers were TCS 4.83 pct and Wipro 1.73 per cent.

Gail India (2.04 pct), Coal India (1.76 pct), REL Ind (1.44 pct), HDFC (1.16 pct) and Tata Power (1.16 pct) showed a rise.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,011.95 crore yesterday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors weighed the prospect of further sanctions against Russia and awaited the Federal Reserve's policy statement.
Key benchmark indices in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and China fell 0.05 pct to 0.68 pct while indices in Indonesia and Hong Kong rose 0.1 pct to 0.58 pct.

US stocks climbed yesterday as housing data bolstered confidence in the economy. Vladimir Putin stating that Russia isn't seeking to split Ukraine also aided the rise in shares.