Sensex pares early gains, still up 7 pts in late morning

The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading marginally up by 7.24 points, while the broader Nifty ruled almost flat in late morning deals as profit-booking in auto, healthcare, industrials and banks paused the momentum.
The index opened up by 140 points on value-buying in key heavyweights after recent losses and bouts of short-covering.
The index resumed higher at 25,136.71 and hovered between 25,175.82 and 25,034.14. It was quoting 25,043.29 at 1115 hrs, showing a marginal gain of 7.24 points or 0.03 per cent.
However, the NSE Nifty slipped marginally by 1.70 points or 0.02 per cent to 7,610.80.
Major BSE gainers were GAIL (2.37 pc), Hindalco (2.17 pc), RIL (2.01 pc), HDFC (1.41 pc) and Cipla (1.18 pc).

Notable losers were Sun Pharma (2.42 pc), Lupin (1.59 pc), BHEL (1.42 pc), Tata Motors (1.38 pc) and Maruti (1.24 pc).

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 527.41 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Overseas, the Asian markets were trading lower following a decline in the US stocks overnight. Chinese stocks, however, bucked the trend after news broke that Beijing will finally introduce much-needed IPO reforms.
The US stocks edged lower in a choppy trading session yesterday as weak oil prices continued to feed global growth worries.