Sensex fails to maintain initial gains, drops 51 pts

The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex failed to maintain initial gains and dropped by 51 points in late morning trade on fresh selling, mainly in auto, power, consumer durable and refinery sectors, despite buying in IT, tech and metal sectors.
The Sensex resumed higher at 19,859.22 on good demand, mainly in IT sectors. However, it declined afterwards to quote at 19,709.57 at 1030 hrs, showing a net loss of 50.73 points or 0.26 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 8.45 points or 0.14 per cent to 5,977.50 at 1030 hrs.
Major losers were Bajaj Auto (3.32 per cent), Maruti (2.50 per cent), Hero Motocorp (2.03 per cent), Sunpharma (1.58 per cent), NTPC (1.46 per cent), Reliance Ind (1.42 per cent), Tata Power (1.34 per cent), and Tata Motors (1.16 per cent).

However, Infosys rose by 5.47 per cent followed by Wipro (1.44 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.41 per cent), Dr Reddy (1.26 per cent), Cipla (1.21 per cent) and Coal India (1.20 per cent).
Auto stocks fell as auto companies reported weak sales for the month just gone by. Shares of two-wheeler makers declined as PSU OMCs raised petrol price.
Infosys jumped nearly 6 per cent after the company said that its board has appointed N R Narayana Murthy into the board and executive leadership of the company.
Asian stocks showed a mixed trend. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea shed 0.19 per cent to 2.05 per cent, while indices in China and Hong Kong rose by 0.28 per cent to 0.53 per cent.