The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex failed to maintain initial gains and was quoted lower by 68 points to 20,796.70 in the late morning trade due to fresh selling pressure mainly in IT, Teck, Auto, Realty and Capital Goods counters despite firm global trend.
The Sensex resumed higher at 20,875.31 and firmed up further to 20,922.32 on initial strong buying on the back of higher global cues coupled with persistent foreign capital inflows.
However, it declined afterwards to 20,716.70 before quoting at 20,796.70 (1030hrs), showing a loss of 68.27 points or 0.33 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 23.40 or 0.38 per cent to 6,179.40 (1030hrs).
Major losers were Wipro (5.16 pct), HDFC Bank (1.35 pct), Tata Motors (1.24 pct), Infosys (1.14 pct) and Dr Reddy's Lab (1.12 pct).
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 794.90 crore yesterday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian stock markets were trading mostly higher after disappointing US jobs data firmly pushed expectations for the tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus into next year.
Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan rose by 0.14 per cent to one per cent while indices in China, South Korea and Taiwan fell by 0.31 per cent to 1.23 per cent.
