Sensex slips 69 pts, Nifty below 10,500 in late morning trade

Market benchmark BSE Sensex pared initial gains, shedding 68.70 points in late morning trade on mild bouts of selling in IT, power, utilities, banks, healthcare, financials, metal, consumer durable and metal sectors amid mixed Asian cues.
The market opened 63 points higher on positive December quarter GDP data but later turned volatile on weak Asian trend on comments from US Federal Reserve's new chief, who rekindled fears about the pace of US monetary tightening this year by gradually raising interest rates.
Buying was seen in telecom, oil&gas, auto and industrial sectors.
The 30-share index was trading down by 68.70 points, or 0.20 per cent at 34,115.34 at 1120 hrs.

The broader Nifty-50 index was also trading low at 10,477.75, a loss of 15.10 points, or 0.14 per cent.
Major laggards were ICICI Bank, down 1.69 per cent, Infosys 1.21 per cent, SBI 1 per cent, PowerGrid 0.96 per cent and Hero Motocorp 0.68 per cent.

Gainers included Bharti Airtel, up 1.73 per cent, Tata Motors 0.89 per cent, M&M 0.67 per cent and Axis Bank 0.67 per cent.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,750.52 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,596.89 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Asian markets were mixed, tracking overnight slide in US equities. Growth in China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up to a six-month high in February.
US stocks ended lower as Wall Street digested data that were seen as underlining the economy's robust health. Strong economy could warrant the Federal Reserve to turn more hawkish.