Sensex fails to maintain initial gains, drops 121 pts

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex failed to maintain initial gains by slipping 72 points in the late morning trade due to fresh selling pressure mainly in capital Goods, Realty, IT and Banking sectors in view of persistent foreign capital outflows.
Sustained capital outflows from foreign funds mainly affected the market sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 576.20 crore yesterday as per the provisional data issued by the stock exchanges.
The Sensex resumed higher at 20,286.09 and firmed up further to a high of 20,358.19 on initial strong buying mainly in metal, banking, consumer durable sectors.
However, it declined afterwards to 20,079.82 before quoting at 20,140.38 at 1030 hours, showing a loss of 120.65 points or 0.60 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also dropped by 44.40 points or 0.74 per cent to 5,978.00 at 1030 hours.
US stocks dipped yesterday as technical support offset the latest batch of mixed data, which failed to lift sentiment after a string of soft economic indicators earlier in the week.
Asian shares rose in their early trade as investors weighed data showing service industries growth in the world's biggest economy against a private jobs report that missed estimates. Key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan rose between 0.27 per cent to 0.89 per cent.
Stock markets in mainland China remain closed until tomorrow, 7 February 2014, for the Lunar New Year holiday.