Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex was down by 6.94 points at 24,448.10 in the late morning volatile trade, on the back of lower Asian cues. Continued selling by FIIs and muted corporate earnings also weighed on the sentiments.
Meanwhile, country's third largest software services firm Wipro today posted 1.8 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,234.1 crore for the third quarter. Selling was seen in Capital Goods, Telecom, Auto, Consumer Durables, Oil and Gas, Realty, FMCG, Energy and HealthCare sectors. Good buying was witnessed in Metal, Banks, IT and utilties segment.
The BSE Sensex opened higher at 24,400 and moved in a range of 24,524.85 and 24,285.23 before quoting at 24,448.10 at 1115 hours, down by 6.94 points or 0.03 per cent. The NSE Nifty was also down by 6 points or 0.08 per cent to 7,431.80 at 1115 hours. Major losers were Bajaj Auto, down 3.18 per cent; ONGC 2.87 per cent; Dr Reddy 1.68 per cent; HeroMotoco 1.59 per cent; L&T 1.54 per cent; CIPLA 1.40 per cent and Bharti Airtel 1.37 per cent.
Notable gainers are Tata Steel 3.13 per cent; BHEL 1.83 per cent; Axis Bank 1.77 per cent; GAIL 1.67 per cent; Lupin 1.17 per cent and Infosys 0.79 per cent. Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 1,123.79 crore last Friday, as per provisional data.
In overseas market, Asian markets were trading lower after weak US economic data and massive fall in oil prices stoked further worries about a global economic downturn. US stocks dropped sharply during the previous trading session last Friday, as oil prices plunged and investors worried about slowing growth in the US.
