Equity benchmark indices were flat with a positive bias during early hours on Friday but IT stocks surged ahead with some gains.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 64 points or 0.12 percent at 51,596 while the Nifty 50 ticked higher by 19 points or 0.12 percent to 15,192.
Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty IT up by 1.3 percent and realty by 0.9 percent. But Nifty FMCG was down by 0.8 percent.
Among stocks, Wipro moved up by 2.4 percent to Rs 447.50 per share. Infosys and Tech Mahindra gained by 1.8 percent each while HCL Technology and Tata Consultancy Services edged higher by 0.9 percent.
The other major gainers were Grasim, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, and Hero MotoCorp.
However, diversified conglomerate ITC plunged by 3.4 percent to Rs 218.60 per share after reporting a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,587 crore in Q3 FY21, down 11 percent from Rs 4,050 crore year-on-year.
Energy majors Coal India, ONGC, GAIL, and NTPC along with metal giants Tata Steel and Hindalco were also in the negative territory.
Meanwhile, Asian shares hovered just below a record high as mixed US economic data caused some investors to show restraint.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.03 percent while shares in Tokyo were down by 0.32 percent.
Markets in Greater China and most of southeast Asia were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
