The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex failed to maintain initial gains and was quoted lower by 19 points in the morning trade due to mild selling pressure mainly in banking, realty and FMCG counters tracking weak Asian cues.

The Sensex opened higher at 20,755.73 and firmed up further to 20,778.13 on initial buying mainly in metal, power and refinery sector stocks.

It, however, declined afterwards to 20,669.80 before quoting at 20,710.23 at 1030 hours, showing a loss of 19.15 points or 0.09 percent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 8.20 points or 0.13 per cent to 6,166.40 at 1030 hours.

Asian stocks edged lower in their early trade as better- than-expected US private sector jobs numbers strengthened the case for further tapering of the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying programme.

Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan were down 0.06 per cent to 1.23 per cent, while those in China and Indonesia were up 0.25 per cent to 0.36 per cent.

Fed’s bond-buying programme has been a source of liquidity for most Asian and emerging markets over the past few years.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 79.68 crore on Wednesday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.