The BSE benchmark Sensex was down by 17 points in early trade as initial gains were wiped out by profit-booking at select counters in view of the expiry of August derivative contracts today, despite firm Asian advices.


Intra-day volatility may remain high today as traders roll-over positions in the derivatives segment from the near-month August, 2011, series to the September, 2011, series.
The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed higher at 16,338.14 and moved up further to 16,373.84, but declined to 16,261.63 before quoting at 16,267.53 at 1015 hours, a net fall of 17.45 points, or 0.11 per cent, from its last close.
The NSE’s 50-share Nifty index also moved down by 13.00 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 4,875.90 at 1015 hours.
The major losers in early trade were Jaiprakash Associates (2.09 per cent), Tata Steel (2.04 per cent), Jindal Steel (2.00 per cent), HeroMoto (1.52 per cent) and ICICI Bank (1.28 per cent).
Asian stocks rallied in early trade today as strong US manufacturing data and several robust earnings reports boosted the investor sentiment. The key benchmark indices in Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were up by between 0.41 per cent and 1.72 per cent, while the Taiwan Weighted Index was down 0.3 per cent.