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Benchmark indices have rebounded from today's lows even as selling pressure from FIIs weighed on investor sentiment.
At 11:45AM, the Sensex was down 94 points at 20,167, while the Nifty 50 was down 28 points at 5,994.
FIIs continue mounting selling pressure, with foreign investors having sold a net INR 3,053 core worth of shares over the last four trading sessions, according to preliminary exchange data.
At 62.52, the rupee continued to trade marginally higher against the US dollar, compared to its previous close of 62.58 on increased selling of the American currency by exporters.
Asian markets remained moderately positive, with investors looking forward to the European Central Bank's meeting later today and US payrolls data on Friday. Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.8% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.22%, although Nikkei was slightly down by 0.18% at 14,155.
BSE Realty and Capital Goods were down by more than 1% each, while Metal, Consumer Durables, and FMCG, indices were up 0.1-0.7% each. IT shares remained weak after conservative revenue growth guidance from Cognizant. Infosys, TCS, and HCL Technologies were down nearly 1% each.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has dipped more than 3% after reporting a sharp 41% year-on-year (yoy) decline in net profit at Rs 695 crore for the Q3 ended December 31, 2013, primarily due to lower realization. The state-owned company had profit of Rs 1,182 crore in a year ago quarter.
On the other hand, Bank of Baroda has gained a modest 1% after reporting earnings in-line with market expectations. Q3 net profit was Rs 1,048 crore compared to Rs 1,012 crore in the same period last year, as total income increased to Rs 10,623 crore from Rs 9,685 crore in the previous year. Net NPA increased to 1.88% from 1.12%, while Gross NPA rose to 3.32% compared to 2.41% in the year ago period.
Among other shares, Jet Airways (India) has surged more than 10% to Rs 234 on reports that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday approved Etihad's 50.1% stake buy in Jet Privilege Private Ltd (JPPL), a customer loyalty programme unit of Jet Airways.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, with the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices marginally up by 0.1-0.3% each.
Market breadth was positive with 1039 advances and 964 declines, while 132 scrips remained unchanged on the BSE.
