The Nifty 50 was up 0.03% to 17,749.35, as of 9:51 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.03%. Seven of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined with information technology (IT) and pharma stocks falling 0.5% each.
Shares of IPCA Laboratories Ltd tumbled over
9% after the company agreed to buy a 33.38% stake in Unichem
Laboratories Ltd for up to 10.34 billion rupees
($126.3 million). Ipca Laboratories was the top loser in the
pharma index.
IT stocks led the slide in markets last week on weak earnings and outlook from major companies including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd . But strong fourth-quarter results from Reliance Industries Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd resulted in improvement in sentiment and gains in markets on Monday.
Analysts expect markets to remain range-bound for the next few sessions, with a positive bias as earnings trickle in.
Private lender IndusInd Bank Ltd rose over 2% on reporting better-than-expected profit for the March quarter. The stock is the top gainer in Nifty 50 index. Bajaj Auto , Nestle India , HDFC Asset management Company Ltd , Tata Consumer Products Ltd , and Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd are among the companies due to report their earnings later in the day.
($1 = 81.8675 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Sonia Cheema)
