Sensex slips 53 points; Nifty trading below 8,250

The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped 53 points in late morning trade, tracking positive trade in Asian equities even as Oil&gas, Power, Utilities, Telecom and Consumer Durables stocks continued to falter.

Some buying activity was observed in FMCG, Basic Meterials, Banking and Realty.

The Sensex opened higher at 26,860.81 and moved in a range of 26,860.88 and 26,701.18. At 1100 hrs, the 30-share barometer was quoted lower at 53.44 points, or 0.20%, at 26,705.79 points.

The NSE 50-share Nifty was also down 13.20 points, or 0.16%, at 8,230.60 at 1045 hrs.

Major losers were Dr Reddy's 2.13%, M&M 1.33%, Coal India 1.23% and Powergrid 1.19%.

However, ITC rose 1.11%, Cipla 0.58% and Reliance 0.42%.

Closer home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 255.21 crore Friday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 165.29 crore last Friday.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher today, helped by a strong Wall Street, and the dollar stood tall against rivals after the latest US payrolls data indicated strong underlying wage growth.