Sensex fails to hold 25K, still up 72 points in late morning deals

Mumbai: Equities again fell below the 25,000-mark in late morning deals after paring some of the early losses as the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 71.74 points to 24,923.57 as value-buying in IT, FMCG, banks and energy stocks supported the gains.

Asian stocks also rebounded after Chinese officials suspended circuit breakers, which resulted in halting of Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes twice this week. The Sensex resumed higher at 24,969.02 and hovered between 25,083.55 and 24,887.22 and was trading at 24,923.57, showing a gain of 71.74 points over its previous close.

The NSE Nifty was also up by 17.75 points to 7,586.05. Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 1,051.74 crore yesterday as per provisional data. Major gainers were ITC (1.60 pc), Tata Motors (1.52 pc), RIL (1.38 pc), TCS (1.14 pc), GAIL (1.04 pc) and Infosys (0.95 pc). Overseas, Chinese stocks led gains in Asian markets after China Securities Regulator removed its four-day-old circuit-breaker system that was blamed for triggering a rout in Chinese stocks this week.