Sensex down 93 pts in late morning deals

Erasing early gains, the BSE benchmark Sensex lost 93 points in the late morning trade due to fresh selling pressure mainly in consumer durables, auto, metal and banking sector stocks, amid weak Asian cues.

The 30-share barometer resumed slightly higher at 19,367.26 and moved up further to 19,419.11. But declined afterwards to 19,179.33 before quoting at 19,269.26 at 1030

hrs, a net loss of 93.29, or 0.48 per cent, from yesterday's close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also declined by 28 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 5,823.20 at 1030 hrs.

Major losers were Bharti Airtel (2.25 per cent), Gail India (2.02 per cent), Tata Motors (1.85 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.54 per cent), Bajaj Auto (1.50 per cent) and Jindal Steel (1.44 per cent).

Asian stocks edged lower in their early trade led by material producers and Chinese developers, as concern about property curbs in the world's No.2 economy overshadowed reports on US retail and Australian jobs that exceeded estimates.

Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea fell by 0.28 per cent to 1.46 per cent, while indices in China and Japan rose by 0.14 per cent to 0.22 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 303.83 crore yesterday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

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