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At 13:07hrs, the Sensex was up 56 points at 19,516 and the Nifty gained 11 points at 5,909.
In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index was down 0.5% and the small-cap index was down 0.8%.
ONGC was the top Sensex gainer up 2.5% after after reporting a better-than-expected net profit at Rs 5,563 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 (Q3) due to lower than expected subsidy sharing. Analyst on an average expected profit of Rs 5,243 crore from the state-run oil exploration and production company.
Reliance Ind was up 1% at Rs 877 after the company said it will shut down one of its crude distillation unit at its 5,80,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) export-oriented refinery at Jamnagar Complex for four weeks beginning February 18, 2013. The company, in a press statement said, this opportunity would also be utilized to carry out necessary modifications to improve the reliability and performance of the unit.
Other Sensex gainers include, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma.
Among other shares, DB Realty and Unitech recovered marginally from their day lows but were still trading nearly 16% lower on reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) suspects its own prosecutor of aiding Unitech, managing director Sanjay Chandra, one of the accused in the 2G case. “The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry report, which names the lead 2G prosecutor AK Singh. The CBI Preliminary Enquiry Report also names Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra,” the CNN-IBN report suggests.
The overall breadth of the BSE remains weak as 1,677 stocks are declining while 871 are advancing.
