Mumbai: The SENSEX opened moderately lower and later fluctuated in a narrow range in line with a negative reaction in select counters during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange, (BSE)) on August 4 due to selling pressure from operators.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened below 3800-mark at 3798.81 as against August 4's close of 3815.31 and later moved in a range between 3808.45 and 3785.85 before being quoted at 3810.03 at 10.30 hours (IST).

Brokers attributed the setback in stocks to income tax raids on the two city-based brokerages that reportedly did not follow the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines on clients and ruled out any major impact on the market.

However, cement stocks remained in the limelight on fresh purchases by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) which were believed to be sustained buyers in the sector. FIIs have made net investments of Rs 407 crore in the first four sessions of last week.

PTI