Sensex recovers 44 points, Nifty up by 8 points at 8,408

The benchmark Sensex pared its initial losses to recover 44.25 points to 27,282.31 in late morning deals on buying in key frontline shares of realty, metal, consumer durables, industrials and telcom sectors despite lower Asian cues.

Market witnessed bargain-hunting as well as shortcovering amid lack of direction, though caution gripped ahead of key index heavyweights RIL Q3 results and WPI inflation data to be released later in the day. Selling was witnessed across IT, Teck and Energy counters. The Sensex opened flat at 27,238.35 and hovered between 27,301.38 and 27,172.68. It was quoting at 27,282.31 At 1115 hours, a gain of 44.25 points, or 0.16%.

The NSE 50-share Nifty was also up by 8.05 points, or 0.10%, at 8,408.40 at 1115 hours. Among the major gainers were Tata Steel 2.55%, Adani Ports 2.09%, Tata Motors 1.54% and Axis Bank 1.15%. Major losers included Infosys, which fell 1.55%, ONGC 0.75%, Reliance 0.75%, ITC 0.66%, and GAIL 0.61%. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 117.59 crore on Friday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Overseas, Asian stocks dropped after the British pound plunged more than 1% on fears of hard exit by UK from the European Union, which Britain voted to leave last June. US stocks rose moderately last Friday, on the back of quarterly earnings from some of the country`s biggest banks.