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Key benchmark indices recovered after hitting day's low amid range-bound trades.
At 01:10 AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 58 points at 21,231 and the 50-share Nifty was down 10 points at 6,311
On technicals, Devangshu Datta, Independent market analyst and expert said, "Support for Nifty is at 6300-6310, next support 6275 (futures prices). The index sems to be range trading 6300-6350. Wait for a breakout in either direction. Overall trend still seems mildly bullish."
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 713.29 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Economic recovery in India will be slow and will come in the second half of 2014, Moody's Investors Service said today, adding that this will be possible only if the global expansion rises.
The comments by a key Moody's official came a day after the World Bank projected the global economy will turnaround and grow by 3.2% in 2014 against estimated 2.4% in 2013.
There is another rider in Moody's assessment. It said the outcome of general elections due in April-May can affect India's growth.
"On India, we expect a slow economic recovery in the second half of this year, if global growth increases. However, the outcome of national elections this year could also affect growth, depending on how it impacts sentiment and policies," Tom Byrne, senior vice president and manager for Moody's Sovereign Risk Group, told a press confernce in Singapore.
On the global front, the dollar rose to a one-week high against the yen on Thursday, as a set of robust US data and upbeat earnings from Bank of America helped offset concerns of a US slowdown following December's disappointing payroll numbers.
Japan's Nikkei benchmark advanced 0.5% in relatively active trade after logging its best one-day rise in four months on Wednesday, a day after suffering its worst session in five months.
Back home, the rupee is weaker at 61.65/66 versus its previous close of 61.54/55. The dollar has gained versus most other Asian peers in trade.
On the sectoral front, BSE Auto, TECk and FMCG indices have declined by nearly 1% each. However, BSE Capital Goods and Metal indices have gained by 1% each.
Results corner
Axis Bank today posted a net profit of Rs 1,604 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 1347.22 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012, a gain of 19%.
Total income in Q3 increased to Rs 9,433.550 crore from Rs 8,580.3 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Gross NPAs stood at Rs 3,008 crore or 1.25% while net NPAs stood at Rs 1,003 crore or 0.42% in the quarter.
"Axis Bank– may be worth a long position with stop loss at 1180," says Devangshu Datta.
The stock is trading 0.8% higher at Rs 1,188 currently on the BSE.
Bajaj Auto today posted Q3 PAT of Rs 905 crore compared to Rs 819 crore in the corresponding period last year, recording a gain of 10.5%.
Total income decreased from Rs 5,616 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 to Rs 5,353 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.
Operating EBITDA stood at Rs 1,092 crore compared to Rs 1,085 crore in Q3 last year. The EBITDA margin was 21.1%, the company said in a statement.
Export revenue also increased from Rs 1,719 crore to Rs 2,123 crore.
The stock is trading 0.6% higher at Rs 1908. Datta says the outlook is flat on the stock and suggest investors to be bearish.
Other shares
Shares of telecom companies are under pressure trading lower by up to 6% after analyst at foreign brokerage house Credit Suisse downgrades Ideal Cellular and Bharti Airtel citing reasons that Reliance-Jio joining spectrum auctions is a “negative surprise," against market expectation.
Among the individual stocks, Idea Cellular has tanked over 6% to Rs 157, while Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are down 4% each at Rs 318 and Rs 122 respectively. Tata Communications too trading lower by 2.4% at Rs 297 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Other notable losers are Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Motors, M&M, ITC and Sun Pharma, all dropping between 1-4%.
On the gaining side, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, BHEL, Axis Bank and HDFC have gained between 1-2%.
Among other shares, Loveable Lingerie has surged 5% to Rs 320 after the foreign investors bought an additional nearly 2% stake of the company for Rs 10 crore from open market.
DCB Bank has rallied 6% to Rs 59.80 on the BSE after reporting a strong 33% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 36 crore for the third quarter ended December 2013 (Q3) on back of higher interest income and improvement in net interest margin.
The market breadth in BSE remains marginally negative with 1,037 shares declining and 930 shares advancing.
