New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS): BSE Sensex slipped into the red in the morning trade on Wednesday giving up its initial gains.

Sensex is trading at 71,977.80 points, down 208.29 points.

The weakness in the Sensex is led by the IT heavyweights with Infosys and Tech Mahindra down more than 1 per cent. The IT index is down more than 1 per cent.

Power stocks are also weak with Powergrid and NTPC down 1 per cent.

Realty stocks are up with the realty index up more than 2 per cent.

An area of concern is the excessive speculation in low-grade stocks where many are doubling in a few days. These excesses of a bull market warrant caution, says V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Investors should stay in the comfort of high quality stocks, he said.

A significant feature of the ongoing bull market is its ability to bounce back from dips. This makes the buy on dips strategy successful, he said.

The bounce back happening now is being led by IT and supported by autos and pharma even while Bank Nifty continues to decline. The fact that new leaders are emerging to take the market forward indicates that the uptrend is intact and new record highs are possible soon, he said.