Sensex down 131 pts in late morning deals

Mumbai, May 23: The BSE Sensex on Thursday fell by over 131 in late morning trade on continued selling pressure and heavy profit-booking in realty, capital goods, power, consumer durables and banking, amid bearish Asian cues.

The 30-share index opened lower at 19,971.37 and hovered between 20,027.56 and 19,887.00 before quoting at 19,931.15 at 1030hrs, showing a loss of 131.09 points, or 0.65 per cent, from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty was also down by 49.10 points, or 0.81 per cent to 6,045.40 at 1030hrs.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 540.18 crore on Wednesday, as per BSE provisional data.

Major losers were BHEL 3.20 per cent, SBI 2.94 per cent, Bharti Airtel 2.92 per cent, L&T 2.91 per cent and ICICI Bank 2.48 per cent.

Asian stocks slid in early trade after China's manufacturing output unexpectedly contracted and amid speculation the Federal Reserve may soon wind back stimulus.

Key benchmark indices in Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea shed between 0.37 per cent and 1.63 per cent.