Sensex swings between green, red in early trade

Mumbai, May 28: Benchmark index of Bombay Stock Exchange swung between red and green amidst choppy trading session in the opening trade.
After opening firm with a gain of 83.03 points at 16,358.62 from its previous close of 16,275.59, Sensex touched a high of 16,370.23 in the early trade. Soon after, it slipped into red to touch a low of 16,217.78, dropped 57.81 points and then bounced back into green in the mid-morning trade.
Moreover, the market was range-bound near the level of 16,300. Similarly, broader-based Nifty index of National Stock Exchange was trading almost flat at 4,850. The key benchmark indices opened higher as the market sentiments improved on crude oil prices fell from record levels. Capital goods and power stocks witnessed selling pressure, even as FMCG and realty shares advanced, brokers said. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose slightly at Rs 2,498, while ICICI Bank fell 1.05 per cent at Rs 804, Larsen&Toubro fell 0.65 per cent to Rs 2,727. The company will declare its Q4 results today.

Ambuja Cements gained 4.20 per cent at Rs 101.70, Ranbaxy Laboratories was up by 1.78 per cent at Rs 502.35, Bharti Airtel up 1.73 per cent at Rs 878.05, TCS up by 1.72 per cent at Rs 983.25 and ITC rose 1.70 per cent at Rs 212.65, were in demand.

As per provisional data, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 496.61 crore yesterday. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 529.69 crore on that day.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 149.01 crore in the futures and options segment yesterday. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 233.60 crore and bought index options worth Rs 319.12 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 36.75 crore and bought stock options worth Rs 100.24 crore.

UNI