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Benchmark indices erased their early morning gains as index heavyweights like ITC and TCS pared the gains of Sun Pharma and Tata Steel.
At 14:35 hours, the Sensex was down 23 points at 20,288 and the Nifty 50 was down 3 points at 6,033.
Broader markets continued to slightly outperform the benchmark indices, with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining between 0.5-0.7% each.
At 62.33, the rupee maintained its edge compared to its close of 62.38, as it tracked some gains in the domestic share markets. Traders also expect dollar inflows towards the Vodafone deal, spectrum auctions among other things.
Japan's Nikkei average jumped 2.12%, its biggest daily percentage rise since January 29, as investor sentiment brightened on hopes for an upbeat US jobs report later in the day. Recovering from a four-month trough of 13,995.86 set earlier this week on Wednesday, the Nikkei ended at 14,462.41. Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.8%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1%.
BSE Metals, Realty, and Healthcare continued to outshine, gaining by 1.44%-2.45% each. FMCG and IT shares remained weak, and were down by more than 0.3%-0.4% each. All other sectoral indices were trading higher than their previous close. Tata Steel was the biggest gainer and was up by more than 5% to Rs. 381.
Tata Power trimmed its gains and was down 0.2% as its consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 75 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, compared to a net loss of Rs 329 crore posted in the same period last year.
Among other shares, Jubilant Life Sciences has increased by 5% to Rs 139, as its net profit more than quadrupled to Rs. 143.43 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013. Revenues increased by 10% during the same period.
Market breadth was positive with 1317 advances and 1083 declines, while 158 scrips remained unchanged on the BSE.
