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Benchmark indices continue to trade flat even as aggressive buying was seen in fundamentally sound mid-cap shares in noon trades on Thursday.
At 1:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 47 points at 25,597 and the 50-share Nifty was up 25 points at 7,649
The BSE Mid-cap index was up 1.3% and the Small-cap index was up 1%.
The Indian rupee was trading marginally lower at 60.14 against the US dollar compared to its pervious close of Rs 60.12 because of on increased demand for the US currency from banks and importers.
Asian markets pared early gains and were trading lower with shares in China losing the most. Japan's benchmark Nikkei ended flat with negative bias down 0.06% at 15,370.26. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite was down 0.6% while Hang Seng and Straits Times were each trading 0.1% lower.
European markets were trading lower on caution following mixed corporate earnings while fresh sanctions on Russia over Ukraine also weighed on market sentiment. CAC, DAX and FTSE were trading 0.2-0.5% lower.
The BSE Oil and Gas index was the top loser down 0.6% followed by Auto and Bankex. However, Capital Goods, Metal and Consumer Durables indices were among the top losers.
Bank shares which had firmed up post the RBI measures for infra-bonds and the realty sector witnessed profit taking at higher levels. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI were down 0.2-1% each.
Oil shares also witnessed profit booking after gains in the previous sessions. RIL was down 0.3% and ONGC was trading 2% lower.
In the auto pack, Bajaj Auto was down 3% after weak first quarter earnings. The two-wheeler major reported a flat growth in the first-quarter standalone net profit at Rs 740 crore, due to higher expenditure including employee cost. Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 838 crore in April-June (Q1) quarter. The country’s second largest two-wheeler maker had profit of Rs 738 crore in the same quarter last year.
Net sales however grew 6.7% to Rs 5,133 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 4,809 crore in the April-June 2013 period, Bajaj Auto said in a statement.
Among other auto shares, M&M, Maruti Suzuki were down 1-3% each.
IT majors were among the top gainers with the exception of TCs which was trading flat with negative bias ahead of its first quarter earnings later today. Infosys and Wipro gained 1-1.2% each.
Other Sensex gainers include, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hindalco and HDFC among others.
In the mid-cap segment, Crompton Greaves was up 14% after the company’s board proposed to demerge its consumer products business unit into a separate listed entity.
"The board believes that such a demerger will create better growth opportunities for its two large but significantly different businesses - Power, Industrial and Automation which is a B2B business, and the consumer products business which is B2C," Crompton Greaves said in a statement.
Shares of infrastructure companies are continue in demand, surging by up to 36% in past two trading sessions after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased infrastructure lending and housing loan norms, which can potentially lower the cost of infrastructure funding in the medium to long term.
Jaypee Infratech, Sadbhav Engineering, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Punj Lloyd, IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL) and Kolte Patil Developers have gained more than 4% each on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today.
