Sensex fails to maintain initial gains, still up by 37 pts

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex failed to maintain initial gains but was still quoted higher by 37 points in morning deals today on buying in realty, capital goods, consumer durable, metal and power sectors, tracking higher Asian cues.
Persistent capital inflows from foreign funds also boosted the market sentiment. They bought shares worth a net Rs 1,272.93 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The 30-share index Sensex opened higher at 21,823.52 points and firmed up further to a high of 21,870.11 on strong initial buying.
But, it declined afterwards to 21,775.00 on selling pressure before quoting 21,777.39 points at 1000 hours, still showing a gain of 37.30 points or 0.17 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share barometer Nifty also moved up by 18.55 points or 0.29 per cent to 6,501.65 at 1000 hours.
Major gainers were Tata Steel (1.84 pct), Larsen (1.16 pct), Tata Power (1.15 pct), BHEL (1.14 pct), Wipro (1.14 pct), SSLT (0.98 pct), Bharti Airtel (0.98 pct) and SBI (0.94 pct).

Asian shares rose in their early trade as investors looked towards the US non-farm payrolls report later in the global day for confirmation that the US employment picture has improved.
Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong were up 0.01 to 0.72 per cent.

US stocks were mostly higher yesterday, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to an all-time high, as data showed jobless claims fell to the lowest level in three months and investors watched developments in Ukraine.