The Nifty 50 was down 0.02% to 17,911.50 as of 10:06 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.08%.
Seven of the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced with information technology stocks and public sector banks rising over 1%.
However, financials fell over 0.5%, dragged by Axis Bank Ltd . The private lender lost over 2% after reporting a wider-than-expected one-time loss in fourth quarter, mainly on expenses from $1.41 billion Citi deal. Wipro Ltd rose over 3% and led gains in the IT index after approving buyback worth 120 billion Rupees. The IT firm posted marginal slide in net profit in March quarter. The benchmark Nifty 50 index has risen over 3% in April so far, on course for most monthly gains since November 2022.
The financials index has risen nearly 6% this month, on strong earnings and healthy profitability metrics, while the IT index has lost 5% since April 12, when Tata Consultancy Services reported its quarterly numbers. Among individual stocks, Glenmark Life Sciences Ltd surged over 9% after reporting 48% year-on-year rise in net profit in the March quarter. The stock also hit a new 52-week high. ($1 = 81.6950 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
