Sensex loses initial gains, down 40 pts

Stock markets lose initial gains due to short selling by mutual funds in derivatives. Track Sensex LIVE

Reliance Industries' outstanding third quarter performance notwithstanding, the stock markets on Friday came under heavy pressure and lost initial gains due to short selling by mutual funds in derivatives.

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The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share Sensex jumped to a high of 14,300.11 in the initial five minutes of trading on the back of RIL's better-than-expected third quarter results.

However, short selling in derivatives pulled down the key index to a low of 14,137.03 before being quoted at 14,177.91 at 10.30 am, a loss of 39.84 points from previous close of 14,217.75.

Similarly, the Nifty index on the wide-based National Stock Exchange rose by 28.10 points at 4,137.15 within the first five minutes of trading. But it eased by 3.95 points to 4,105.10 from previous close of 4,109.05 at 10.30 am.

RIL beat market expectations and Thursday evening came out with impressive numbers, showing a 57.6 per cent growth in net profit to the third quarter to Rs 27.99 billion.