Tuesday, June 27 2006 15:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The stock markets remained erratic, moving up and down during the first 30 minutes of trade today (June 27,2006) while operators were engaged in squaring up positions in the Futures and Options (F&O) ahead of expiry of June contract.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) opened firm at 10,058.29 points and later spurted to a 10,174.05, points up by 131.99 points from previous close of 10,042.06 points.

The Sensex, however, came under pressure due to profit selling by traders and dropped to 10,048.46 at 10.30 am.

The National Stock Exchange's (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also recovered by 14.05 points to 2,957.25 from last close of 2,943.70.

Attributing the volatility to shortcovering alternated by profit booking by investors, market players said the market is expected to witness a choppy trade during the day.

Operators are short in the derivatives and will have to cover their positions in the next three days, they added.