Mumbai: The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex erase dearly gains amid consolidation and was still down by 41 points in late morning trade as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines due to lack of global as well as domestic cues.

Sustained selling was seen in Heathcare, Telecom, Metal and Auto sectors, while buying were seen in Capital goods, FMCG and IT stocks. Earlier, the key benchmark indices had moved higher in early trade on positive Asian stocks.

The Sensex opened higher at 29,525.88 and hovered in a range of 29,585.05 and 29,458.03. It was quoting at 29,478.18 at 1100hrs, showing a loss of 40.56 points, or 0.14 per cent.

The NSE 50-share Nifty too was down 10.25 points or 0.11 per cent to quote at 9,116.60 at 1100hrs. Major losers were, Dr Reddy 4.10 per cent, Axis Bank 2.80 per cent, Sunpharma 2.72 per cent, GAIL 0.84 per cent, Bajaj Auto 0.78 per cent and M&M 0.73 per cent.

However, Larsen rose by 1.23 per cent, followed by ITC 0.74 per cent, SBIN 0.64 per cent and ONGC 0.60 per cent. Meanwhile, the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 56.67 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 536.21 crore, as per the provisional data. Globally, Asian shares edged higher on the prospects of a less-hawkish Federal Reserve policy trajectory.

The US stock index closed marginally lower yesterday, for the third straight day of losses, as investors were reluctant to make big bets without major economic or corporate news.