Sensex sluggish; down 53 pts

The BSE 30-stock index, Sensex, resumed higher at 19,782.59 and firmed up further to 19,790.58 points.

But, it declined to 19,686.34 before quoting 19,711.75 at 1040 hrs -- down 53.03 points or 0.27 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-stock index Nifty was also down and traded below the 6,000-mark level by 17.30 points or 0.29 per cent at 5,992.20 at 1040 hrs.

Major losers were - Jindal Steel - 1.83 per cent, Sterlite (1.80 pc), Hindalco (1.71 pc), HDFC (1.56 pc) and Tata Steel (1.32 pc).

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) had bought shares worth Rs 1,397.37 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian stocks were trading lower in early trade, with key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan and South Korea down 0.1-0.79 per cent on concerns over US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing.

US stocks also traded lower yesterday.