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Markets came off their early highs and were trading flat as profit booking in oil shares capped upside gains.
At 10:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 14 points at 26,336 and the 50-share Nifty was down 11 points at 7,853.
The Indian rupee was trading lower at Rs 61.62 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of Rs 61.41.
BSE Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, Power, Oil and Gas indices were the top sectoral losers while BSE Realty index continues to remain the top gainer up 2%.
Among other shares, NIIT Technologies has slipped 3.5% to Rs 380 after the company reported a 36% drop in its net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 at Rs 40.1 crore.
Cyient (formerly Infotech Enterprises) has rallied 9% to Rs 487 after reporting a strong 31.6% sequential growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 90.18 crore for the second quarter ended September 2014 (Q2) due to higher other income. The IT consulting and software services firm had profit of Rs 68.51 crore in June quarter.
The broader markets weakened with the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices down 0.2-0.3% each.
Market breadth was turned weak with 1.128 gainers and 932 losers on the BSE.
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(Updated at 9:45AM)
Markets recouped early losses and turned positive led by gains in Tata Group shares such as TCS ahead of its second quarter earnings due later today alongwith Tata Motors and Tata Steel.
At 9:45AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 48 points at 26,397 after hitting a intra-day low of 26,248 and the 50-share Nifty was up 8 points at 7,872 after touching a low of 7,836.
Foreign funds were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 695 crore on Tuesday.
Asian markets were trading mixed recovering from early lows. However, shares in Japan continue to witness selling pressure. The Nikkei was down nearly 2% while Hang Seng and Straits Times were down 0.5-1% while Shanghai Composite recouped early losses and was up 0.6%.
Stocks on Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday as investors continued to trim positions on rising worries that global growth concerns could hurt earnings of US companies. Further, US retail sales and producer prices were both lower last month. The Dow Jonws ended down 173 points at 16,142, the broader S&P 500 slipped 15 points to end at 1,862 and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite ended 12 points lower at 4,215.
European shares also witnessed a sell-off amid growth concerns after weak export data from Germany, Europe's largest economy.
The BSE Realty index was the top sectoral gainer up 2% followed by Auto, Bankex, IT and FMCG among others.
Among the Tata Group shares, TCS was up 1.4% ahead of its second quarter earnigns due for release later today.
Tata Motors was up 2% after the company said it has received another order to supply 928 Tata Marcopolo built buses to the State Transport Authorities in South India.
Tata Steel was up 1.3% after it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Geneva-based Klesch group for the potential sale of its long products business in Europe and associated distribution activities. Analysts said the division accounted for 25 per cent of Tata Steel’s European operations.
Hero MotoCorp gained 1.3% ahead of its second quarter earnings later today.
FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever were among the other Sensex gainers.
Among other shares, Prestige Estate has gained around 2% on the back of strong Q2 performance. Prestige Estate released its operational performance for the Jul-Sep quarter. The company said it has sold 1,375 residential units and 0.21 million square feet of commercial space amounting to Rs 1486 crore in sales, up 29% from the same quarter last fiscal.
The broader market was trading flat with BSE Mid-cap and the Small-cap index trading with marginal gains.
Market breadth turned positive with 796 gainers and 746 losers on the BSE.
