The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered from initial losses in late morning deals today but was still quoted lower by seven points in view of alternate bouts of buying and selling from operators amid mixed Asian cues.
The BSE-30 share index, Sensex, today resumed higher at 19,341.90 and hovered in a range of 19,366.64 and 19,299.53 before quoting 19,318.13 points at 1045 hrs.
It showed a slight loss of 7.23 points or 0.04 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share index, Nifty, also moved down by 4.70 points, or 0.08 per cent, while quoting 5,847.55 at 1045 hrs.
Major losers were - HDFC (2.86 per cent), followed by Tata Motors (2.20 per cent), Hindalco Ind (1.72 per cent), HUL (1.34 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.01 per cent) and NTper cent (0.89 per cent).
President Pranab Mukherjee said in his speech delivered at the beginning of the Budget session of the Parliament yesterday that the government was taking steps to deal with factors of economic slowdown.
Asian stocks wiped their early lows to trade mostly higher as investors dipped a toe back into battered markets, although Chinese shares remained weak amid concerns that strength in the Chinese property market and other factors may lead Beijing to tighten policy.
Key benchmark indices in Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan were up 0.05 to 0.69 per cent while stocks in Hong Kong, China and Singapore were down by 0.02-0.27 per cent.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,213.57 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
