Sensex trims initial gains, still up by 23 points

The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex trimmed its initial gains but was still quoted higher by 23 points in late morning trade today on mild buying in consumer durable, capital goods, realty and refinery sectors despite selling in auto, metal and healthcare counters.
The BSE-30 share index, Sensex, resumed higher at 20,316.58 and firmed up further to 20,372.33 points on initial buying on the back of higher Asian cues.
But, it declined afterwards on profit-booking to 20,251.62 at 1030 hours, still showing a gain of 22.57 points or 0.11 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share barometer Nifty also moved up by 14.50 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 6,013.55 at 1030 hours.

Major gainers were Bharti Airtel (1.48 per cent), ONGC (1.37 per cent), HDFC (1.03 per cent), Gail India (0.95 per cent), M&M (0.78 per cent) and Larsen (0.75 per cent).
However, Sun Pharma dropped by 1.68 per cent followed by Tata Motors (1.58 per cent), SSLT (1.00 per cent), Hindalco (0.75 per cent) and Hero Motocorp (0.71 per cent).

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 59.80 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian stocks edged higher in their early trade as positive political and economic news from the US supported sentiment.
Key benchmark indices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea rose by 0.34 to 0.61 per cent while indices in China and Singapore fell 0.2 to 0.22 per cent.