Sensex trims initial losses; still down 50 pts

Power, capital goods, realty and healthcare stocks logged losses, but IT, tech, refinery and FMCG counters saw buying.

Sensex opened lower at 17,449.93 and dropped further to 17,412.32, but recovered somewhat to 17,481.51. It was quoting at 17,471.03 at 1015 hrs, still down 50.09 points or 0.29 per cent.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 21.75 points or 0.41 per cent to 5,295.20 at 1015 hrs.

Major losers were Maruti Suzuki (1.87 pc), Jindal Steel (1.52 pc), HDFC Bank (1.45 pc), Tata Power (1.40 pc), HDFC (1.37 pc), Tata Steel (1.26 pc) and Hindalco (1.21 pc). But, TCS gained (1.39 pc), Gail India (0.99 pc), M&M (0.79 pc) and ICICI Bank (0.48 pc).

Asian stocks were down for the third day today amid concerns that slower growth prospects in China and a disappointing jobs growth report in the US.

Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by up to 1.45 per cent.