Sensex cracks 208 points, Nifty ends below 6700; IT bleeds

03:40 Market closing
The market ended in deep red as Nifty wrapped up trading for the day below 6700. The Nifty ended down 57.80 points at 6675.30 while the Sensex shed 208 points to close at 22277.23.  About 1019 shares advanced, 1617 shares declined, and 185 shares were unchanged.

IT, capital goods and realty stocks were hammered out of shape in today's trade. Tata Power lost 4 percent while Infosys, BHEL, Wipro and L&T were down around 3 percent each,

However, metals and FMCG stocks held up a strong fight, ending in green when market tumbled sharply. ITC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Maruti and ICICI Bank were gainers in the Sensex.

03:30 pm Drug launch
Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories said it has launched a drug to treat insomnia in the US market, following approval by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

The company has started selling 1mg, 2mg and 3mg tablets of Eszopiclone, a generic version of Lunesta, a sedative drug that is used for the treatment of insomnia.

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc is the owner of the Eszopiclone drug. 
Glenmark Generics Inc, a subsidiary of Glenmark Generics Ltd, said in a separate statement that it has been granted final abbreviated new drug approval from the FDA for Eszopiclone tablets.

03:20 pm Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei share average surged after a better performance on Wall Street the day before and comments from Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso that the market took to suggest more stock buying by the government's pension fund.

Index heavyweight SoftBank soared after a strong earnings report from its Chinese e-commerce affiliate Alibaba Group Holding.

The Nikkei share average rose 3 percent to 14,417.68, extending its rebound from a six-month low around 13,885 hit earlier this month. The benchmark suffered its worst weekly performance in three years last week.

03:10 pm Market check
After a bit of struggle, the market is sinking further with the Nifty languishing below 6700. The Nifty slips 63.35 points at 6669.75 while the Sensex is down 216.54 points at 22268.39. About 978 shares have advanced, 1618 shares declined, and 196 shares are unchanged.

Wipro, Infosys, BHEL and Tata Power are getting hammered in the last few minutes of trading.

02:59pm Mindtree's quarterly earnings today
According to CNBC-TV18 poll, midcap IT company Mindtree's profit after tax is likely to rise 4 percent sequentially to Rs 92 crore on revenues of Rs 810 crore during the quarter.

Analysts expect the company's revenues (in rupee terms) to grow 2.5 percent. Revenues (in dollar terms) may grow 3 percent quarter-on-quarter to USD 131 million in the quarter gone by, which had increased 2.7 percent in December quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) may increase to Rs 160 crore from Rs 154.4 crore and margin may expand 30 basis points to 19.8 percent in the quarter ended March 2014.

02:50pm Interview
Just Dial, which forayed into transaction-enabled services through Search Plus, aims to popularise it among the user community.

Known for providing information on the contact numbers and details of various establishments, Just Dial, through Search Plus, launched services like food delivery, wine delivery and bus ticket booking in December.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, CFO Ramkumar Krishna Machari said the company will invest Rs 60-90 crore on advertising and marketing next year with around Rs 40-60 crore being a one-time spend. The company will continue to have a normal ad spend of around 5 percent of the revenue thereafter, he said.

Just Dial is confident of good revenue growth in FY15 on recent initiatives. Excluding the one-time ad spend, Krishna Machari expects margins to improve by around 150 bps in FY14-15.

02:40pm TCS Q4 earnings today
Analysts believe the company is unlikely to surprise with its quarterly earnings given the management had indicated (in its analyst meet held in March) that revenues and margins in fourth quarter will be lower than third quarter. However, the company had also said FY15 will better than FY14 .

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, profit after tax of the company is likely to fall 2.9 percent sequentially to Rs 5,175 crore but revenues (in rupee terms) may increase 1.7 percent Q-o-Q to Rs 21,662 crore and (in dollar terms) 2.2 percent to USD 3515 million during March quarter.

02:30pm Oil Update
Global oil prices edged up toward USD 110 a barrel, shaking off slower economic growth figures in China and a potential resumption in Libyan exports as tensions mounted in Ukraine.

Six armoured personnel carriers entered an eastern Ukrainian town on Wednesday carrying the Russian and separatist flags a day after Ukrainian forces launched a special operation against separatist militia in the Russian-speaking east.

The standoff raised concerns of an escalation after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of the risk of civil war.

Brent crude for June delivery reversed early losses to trade up 43 cents at USD 109.79 by 0915 GMT, its highest level since March 4. The May contract expired on Tuesday.

US crude for May delivery rose more than USD 1 and was trading up 85 cents at USD 104.60 a barrel at 0919 GMT.

02:20pm Interview
Gurnam Arora, joint MD, Kohinoor Foods is worried about the El Nino impacting production of Basmati rice, although he is not worried on the price front. He thinks the prices are unlikely to drop in case monsoon is unfavourable.

On exceptional growth seen in rice exports, he says the demand has been because of a new variety 1121 of Basmati rice from countries like Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and also because of reasonable demand for long grain rice.

Indian exports were up 8 percent year-on-year in the period between April 2013 and February 2014.

02:10pm FII View
Jeff Chowdhry, Head of Emerging Market Equities, F&C Investments says he does not see much upside between now and the day that election results get announced.

"People have had a nice rally in the market and certainly Modi-led election victory is now priced into the market," he says.

02:00pm The market fell for the third consecutive session today with the Nifty struggling at 6700 level. The index slipped 35.65 points to 6697.45 and the Sensex declined 115.59 points to 22369.34. About 936 shares have advanced, 1563 shares declined, and 188 shares are unchanged.

IndusInd Bank rose 1.6 percent after the bank beat analysts' forecast by reporting net profit at Rs 396 crore in the quarter ended March 2014, up 29 percent compared to a year-ago period.
 
Wipro plunged nearly 3 percent ahead of announcing fourth quarter earnings on Thursday evening. TCS, which will announce quarterly earnings today, lost 2 percent. Infosys topped the selling list in Sensex 30, falling 2 percent.

Shares of L&T, HDFC, M&M, Hero Motocorp, NTPC, Tata Power, BHEL, Cipla and Coal India lost 1-2.7 percent.

However, cigarette major ITC bucked the trend, rising 1.6 percent followed by Maruti with 1 percent. Top lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank gained 0.2-0.6 percent.

2:00 pm Interview: Speaking to CNBC-TV18, JustDial CFO Ramkumar Krishna Machari said the company will invest Rs 60-90 crore on advertising and marketing next year with around Rs 40-60 crore being a one-time spend.

The company will continue to have a normal ad spend of around 5 percent of the revenue thereafter, he said. Just Dial is confident of good revenue growth in FY15 on recent initiatives. Excluding the one-time ad spend, Krishna Machari expects margins to improve by around 150 bps in FY14-15.

Just Dial is confident of good revenue growth in FY15 on recent initiatives. Excluding the one-time ad spend, Krishna Machari expects margins to improve by around 150 bps in FY14-15.

1:50 pm Market outlook: Elections are usually a good time for the market, which is evident from the fact that nearly 80 percent of the Sensex returns in the last 30 years have come in during the two years of a new government. Saurabh Mukherjea CEO, Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital who believes Indian equities are in midst of a similar run.

Typically, post elections, cheaper stocks tend to rally. Mukherjea advises investors to focus on buying decently run companies available at attractive valuations. ''We expect 15-20% returns on Indian market in next 2 years,'' he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

1:40 pm Poll: HCL Technologies, the fourth largest software services exporter in India, will announce its third quarter (January-March) results on Thursday. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, profit after tax of the company may increase 3.7 percent sequentially to Rs 1,551 crore during the quarter.

Revenue (in rupee terms) is likely to grow 2.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 8,388 crore and dollar revenue may rise 2.7 percent to USD 1357.5 million.

"The company continues to remain very well-positioned in the infrastructure outsourcing space despite rising competition. The software services segment is now showing signs of revival. Finally, we see industry-wide positive momentum in discretionary spending," says Credit Suisse.

According to poll, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) may fall 0.7 percent to Rs 1,927 crore and margin may slip 70 basis points to 23 percent on quarter-on-quarter basis.

1:30 pm Market outlook: Anish Damania Head-Institutional Equities, IDFC Securities believes the market is hopeful of a stable government on May 16 and that optimism is converting into bank's performing. However, he says fundamentals of public sector undertakings are still not great and are done rallying for the time being. He expects a correction of about 10 percent for public sector banks.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Damania says the sell-off by the foreign investors in the last two days is not worrisome. But if it continues for a few more sessions then FIIs may possibly be booking profits. However, he does not see a sell-off kind of a situation at least till election results are out or at least the polling is concluded.

Meanwhile, Damania is bullish on Infosys and recommends buying the stock.

1:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of Crompton Greaves touched 32-month high at Rs 188 per share, up 5 percent intraday. Investors are excited about the stock as reports indicate Hitachi is likely to pick up promoter's 42.7 percent stake in the company.

The deal is expected to value the company at over Rs 15,000 crore while the current market cap is only Rs 11500 crore.

Gautam Thapar owns 42.7 percent of the power transmission and distribution company. According to the media report, the entire stake is on the block.

The market is losing strength as the Nifty struggles at 6700, weighed by profit booking. The Nifty is down 32.35 points at 6700.75 and the Sensex is down 109.00 points at 22375.93. About 988 shares have advanced, 1376 shares declined, and 193 shares are unchanged.

IT and realty stocks drag markets and FMCG stocks gain. Infosys, TCS, BHEL, Hero Motocorp and HDFC are under heavy selling presurre. Maruti, ITC, Tata Steel, GAIL and ICICI Bank are among the gainers in the Sensex.

Market's focus is firmly now on earnings corner with TCS releasing March quarter results today. TCS is witnessing some profit booking on expectations of a muted quarter.

The rupee is marginally lower taking cues from dollar's broad strength and inflation data. Bond yields touch 6-week lows on lower core consumer price index. Suspected RBI bond buying and big bond redemptions may have led to the fall.

Asia trades higher after China GDP bet estimates. China's economy grew at 7.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, above estimates of 7.3 percent, but still slower than the 7.7 percent clocked in the previous quarter.

12:59pm Jaiprakash Power down 6%
Brokerage house Citi has downgraded the stock to sell and cut target price to Rs 13.5 a share, citing escalated cost of coal assets and weak asset portfolio.

The brokerage house feels the company is unlikely to generate return on equity upwards of 5 percent.

12:50pm IndusInd Bank Q4 earnings today
Private sector lender IndusInd Bank will announce its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, the bank is likely to report profit after tax at Rs 349 crore during the quarter, up 13.5 percent compared to Rs 307 crore in a year-ago period.

Net interest income may increase 15.4 percent to Rs 763 crore in the quarter ended March 2014 from Rs 661 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

12:45pm Market Update
The market extended losses in afternoon trade with the Sensex falling over 100 points. The index fell 116.04 points to 22368.89 and the Nifty declined 34.15 points to 6698.95. About 1115 shares have advanced, 1206 shares declined, and 199 shares are unchanged.

Infosys plunged over 2 percent. Shares of TCS, HDFC, Wipro, L&T, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hero Motocorp, BHEL and Cipla declined 1-2 percent.

12:40pm Dr Reddy's Labs in focus
Dr Reddy's Laboratories announced that it has launched eszopiclone tablets (C-IV) 1 mg, 2 mg and 3 mg, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Lunesta (eszopiclone) tablets C-IV in the US market, following the approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

It says the Lunesta (eszopiclone) tablets (oral sedative drug to treat insomnia) C-IV brand and generic combined had US sales of approximately USd 887 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in January 2014 according to IMS Health.

12:35pm Europe Update: France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gain around a percent following positive cues from the US.

12:30pm Reliance Communications up 2%
Reliance Communications has raised tariffs for pre-paid customers by up to 20 percent. "Headline tariffs will increase from 1.5 paise per second to 1.6 paise per second, while tariffs on discounted and promotional plans will increase by up to 20 percent," the company says in its filing.

The revised tariffs, which will be applicable for pre-paid customers across the country, come into effect from April 25, 2014. Gurdeep Singh, CEO, consumer business says, "We expect revenue per minute will improve over the next few quarters and this will impact our performance positively."

12:20pm TCS Q4 earnings today
Analysts believe the company is unlikely to surprise with its quarterly earnings given the management had indicated (in its analyst meet held in March) that revenues and margins in fourth quarter will be lower than third quarter. However, the company had also said FY15 will better than FY14 .

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, profit after tax of the company is likely to fall 2.9 percent sequentially to Rs 5,175 crore but revenues (in rupee terms) may increase 1.7 percent Q-o-Q to Rs 21,662 crore and (in dollar terms) 2.2 percent to USD 3515 million during March quarter.

12:10pm Market Expert
Elections are usually a good time for the market, which is evident from the fact that nearly 80 percent of the Sensex returns in the last 30 years have come in during the two years of a new government. That's the word coming in from Saurabh Mukherjea CEO, Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital who believes Indian equities are in midst of a similar run.

Typically, post elections, cheaper stocks tend to rally. Mukherjea advises investors to focus on buying decently run companies available at attractive valuations. ''We expect 15-20 percent returns on Indian market in next 2 years,'' he told CNBC-TV18.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks are rangebound with the Nifty gyrating around 6730 level. The index falls 3.80 points to 6729.30 and the Sensex declines 15.22 points to 22469.71. About 1156 shares have advanced, 1077 shares declined, and 159 shares are unchanged.

Banks and metals stocks continue to see buying interest while capital goods, technology and healthcare stocks are under pressure. Top lenders SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank gain 0.6-1 percent.

Car maker Maruti Suzuki gains 2 percent after brokerage house Nomura says it maintains buy rating on the stock with increased target price of Rs 2295 (from Rs 2135 earlier).

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC advance 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Shares of Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries gain 1-1.5 percent.

However, technology stocks like TCS, Wipro and Infosys fall 1-2 percent on profit booking. TCS will announce its March quarter earnings today and Wipro's numbers will be on April 17. Shares of HDFC, L&T, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hero Motocorp and BHEL decline around a percent.

12:00 pm Exclusive: K Laxmi Narasimhan, Deputy MD, Tilaknagar Industries, which mainly focuses on brandy and rum, said the Indian liquor industry for long has been under-rated , adding the country's branded liquor business stands around Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

Market leader of brandy in South India, the company's branded liquor sale is over Rs 6,000 crore. Tilaknagar Industries, which has been maintaining a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 25 percent for the last four years, sees the alcohol industry growing at 8 percent pace.

"Diageo's entry is a welcome change in setting a lot of things correct and lot of corrections will come in. If I may point out - about four-five years there was a news article that McDowell or United Spirits was the largest FMCG Company in India and that is a fact and it is undisputed but if you contrast it – earlier the market capitalisation use to be Rs 6,000 crore or Rs 7,000 crore before Diageo came in and I am not at all surprised that water has found its level and capitalisation now seems to be something like Rs 45,000 crore – that is one part of the story," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

11:50 am Stock in focus: Shares of Jubilant FoodWorks rallied as much as 3.4 percent intraday after the Reserve Bank of India has increased FII investment limit in the company.

"The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday notified that foreign institutional investors (FIIs), through primary market and stock exchanges, can now purchase up to 55 percent (revised from earlier limit of 49 percent) of the paid up capital of Jubilant FoodWorks under the portfolio investment scheme (PIS)," the central bank says in its release. Jubilant FoodWorks, which holds the master franchise for Domino's Pizza in India, had passed resolutions at the board of directors' level and a special resolution by the shareholders for enhancing the limit from 49 percent to 55 percent for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by FIIs.

11:40 am International news: A consortium of eight 'anchor' investors have committed to buying a 25-30 percent stake in stock exchange operator Euronext ahead of a potential 1.5 billion-euro (USD 3.5 billion) listing by current owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is expected in June, three sources familiar with the matter said, reports Reuters.

The group of investors comprises BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Caisse des Depots, ING, ABN Amro, Banco Espirito Santo, the Belgian government investment vehicle SFPI and Belfius bank.

Euroclear, one of the two main clearing houses for securities traded in Europe alongside Deutsche Boerse's Clearstream, is also expected to join the consortium, one of the sources said.

11:30 am FII view: Geoffrey Dennis of UBS says within their global portfolio, the house is currently neutral on India but does see some upside for the Indian market because of the election fervor. According to him the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) win with Narendra Modi has prime minister has not yet been fully priced into the market.

Commenting on money flows seen into countries like India, Indonesia and Hugary he says the flows are not just because of elections but these countries have also benefited from a weaker dollar.

However, he thinks once the US economy improves and dollar appreciates, these countries are bound to see outflows again. He expects US economy to grow at 3 percent.

11:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Maruti Suzuki, the India's largest car maker, gained more than 1.5 percent after brokerage house Nomura says it maintains buy rating on the stock with increased target price of Rs 2295 (from Rs 2135 earlier).

"After three years of flat volumes, we expect the Indian passenger vehicle industry to recover with 12 percent volume growth in FY15F. A stable government post elections can lead to improved sentiment on the economic outlook and jobs. This can even lead to latent demand coming back much more strongly than our current estimates. MSIL can benefit significantly from this," the brokerage house report says.

Nomura further says Maruti embarks on its best ever phase of new model launches with 14 new models over 2014-18 – many of these in new segments for the company, such as compact SUVs, crossovers, higher-end sedans and LCVs. Thus, growth visibility is high, it adds.

The market continues to be flat, waiting patiently for key corporate earnings. The Sensex is up 18.24 points at 22503.17, and the Nifty is up 9.35 points at 6742.45.

About 1133 shares have advanced, 848 shares declined, and 140 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs are laggards in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Hindalco, ITC, Maruti, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank.

The rupee is marginally lower taking cues from the dollar's broad strength while gilts rise as participants build fresh positions eyeing heavy redemptions of gilts today. The euro traded lower against the dollar as confidence in the German economy declined. The yen traded weak against the dollar.

Asian markets trade higher reacting positively to the Chinese GDP data. China's economy grew 7.4 percent in the first quarter versus estimates of a growth 7.3 percent. However it is still lower than the 7.7 percent clocked in the previous quarter.

Gold struggled near levels of USD 1300 per ounce after sliding overnight on technical selling. US crude prices saw Brent trade between USD 108-109 per barrel.

10:59am TCS Q4 numbers today
Analysts believe the company is unlikely to surprise with its quarterly earnings given the management had indicated (in its analyst meet held in March) that revenues and margins in fourth quarter will be lower than third quarter. However, the company had also said FY15 will better than FY14 .

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, profit after tax of the company is likely to fall 2.9 percent sequentially to Rs 5,175 crore but revenues (in rupee terms) may increase 1.7 percent Q-o-Q to Rs 21,662 crore and (in dollar terms) 2.2 percent to USD 3515 million during March quarter.

10:50am UBS outlook on market
Geoffrey Dennis of UBS says within their global portfolio, the house is currently neutral on India but does see some upside for the Indian market because of the election fervor. According to him the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) win with Narendra Modi has prime minister has not yet been fully priced into the market.

Commenting on money flows seen into countries like India, Indonesia and Hugary he says the flows are not just because of elections but these countries have also benefited from a weaker dollar.

10:40am Titan gains 1%
Credit Suisse upgrades the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" and raises target to Rs 310 from Rs 250 on expectations gold regulatory frameworks would be dismantled in 6-12 months.

India had allowed five domestic private sector banks to import gold, in what industry officials say could be a significant step towards easing of tough curbs on the metal imposed last year.

Credit Suisse says the expectations says are based on comfort in India's current account deficit and the rupee, and consensus among political parties for easing restrictions on gold imports.

The investment bank also expects a pick-up in demand for jewellery and a turnaround in the company's watches segment, reports Reuters.

10:30am IndusInd Bank up 1.5%
Private sector lender IndusInd Bank will announce its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, the bank is likely to report profit after tax at Rs 349 crore during the quarter, up 13.5 percent compared to Rs 307 crore in a year-ago period.

Net interest income may increase 15.4 percent to Rs 763 crore in the quarter ended March 2014 from Rs 661 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

10:20am Financial Tech, MCX in focus
The deadline is nearing for Financial Technologies to sell 24 percent stake in MCX. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the MCX stake sale has reached its second stage.

It is learnt that four names have been shortlisted for the next process. While the Kotak Group is expected to be front runner for the same, a final agreement can be expected by April 25, sources said.

Financial Technologies gains 1 percent and MCX rises 2.5 percent.

10:10am FII View
Manish Hemrajani, Oppenheimer says the Indian market is close to its all-time highs. "We believe it headed higher, hinged on the hopes of a favorable election outcome," he adds.

He further says the brokerage firm remains selectively constructive on the Indian IT sector. ''Despite currency headwinds, we believe Tier 1 IT could still deliver returns of 10-15 percent,'' he adds.

In addition, capital goods companies, engineering companies and private sector banks could show strength in the run-up to the elections, says Hemrajani.

10:00am Equity benchmarks see consolidation with the Sensex hovering around 22500 level. Banks, metals, auto and FMCG stocks continues to support the market while technology stocks are under pressure.

The Sensex rises 17.11 points to 22502.04 and the Nifty gains 6.45 points to 6739.55. The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.3-0.5 percent. About 969 shares have advanced, 642 shares declined, and 82 shares are unchanged.

India's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank soar 1 percent while housing finance company HDFC declines 0.9 percent.
 
Index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Industries rise around 1 percent. Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel gain 1 percent each. Among metals, Hindalco Industries, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel rally 1-2 percent.

However, technology stocks see profit booking. Infosys fell nearly 3 percent following a 4.5 percent decline in its ADRs. TCS, which will announce Q4FY14 earnings today, slips 2 percent. Wipro, which is set to declare March quarter results on Thursday, drops 1 percent.

10:00 am Results: DCB Bank reported an almost 15 percent jump in net profit at Rs 39.07 crore in the March quarter. The lender had registered a new profit of Rs 34.11 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago.

For the entire fiscal year 2013-14, the private lender's profit rose to Rs 151.36 crore as compared to Rs 102.06 crore in the previous financial year that ended on March 31, 2013.

DCB Bank managing director and chief executive Murali M Natrajan attributed the increase in profit to diversification of the loan portfolio and cutting exposure to sectors such as micro, small and medium enterprises and companies.

The mid-sized bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) came down to 1.69 percent in the fourth quarter ended March 31 from 3.18 percent in the year-ago period.

9:50 am Buzzing: Shares of Jubilant FoodWorks rallied as much as 3.4 percent intraday after the Reserve Bank of India has increased FII investment limit in the company.

"The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday notified that foreign institutional investors (FIIs), through primary market and stock exchanges, can now purchase up to 55 percent (revised from earlier limit of 49 percent) of the paid up capital of Jubilant FoodWorks under the portfolio investment scheme (PIS)," the central bank says in its release.

Jubilant FoodWorks, which holds the master franchise for Domino's Pizza in India, had passed resolutions at the board of directors' level and a special resolution by the shareholders for enhancing the limit from 49 percent to 55 percent for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by FIIs.

9:40 am FII view: Adrian Mowat, JP Morgan feels emerging markets (EM) are now outperforming developed markets year-to-date. ''Our thesis is that there will be two stages to the EM rally. The current stage is a reduction in risk premiums as fears on funding current account deficits recede. Stage two is margin improvement and topline surprise,'' he adds.

Meanwhile, Manish Hemrajani, Oppenheimer says the Indian market is close to its all-time highs. "We believe it headed higher, hinged on the hopes of a favorable election outcome," he adds.

He further says the brokerage firm remains selectively constructive on the Indian IT sector. ''Despite currency headwinds, we believe Tier 1 IT could still deliver returns of 10-15 percent,'' he adds.

9:30 am  Poll: TCS is set to declare its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings in the evening. Analysts believe the company is unlikely to surprise with its quarterly earnings given the management had indicated (in its analyst meet held in March) that revenues and margins in fourth quarter will be lower than third quarter. However, the company had also said FY15 will better than FY14.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, profit after tax of the company is likely to fall 2.9 percent sequentially to Rs 5,175 crore but revenues (in rupee terms) may increase 1.7 percent Q-o-Q to Rs 21,662 crore and (in dollar terms) 2.2 percent to USD 3515 million during March quarter.

The market has opened on a flat note after seeing some severe cut on Tuesday. The Sensex is up 1.80 points at 22486.73, and the Nifty is down 5.90 points at 6727.20. About 285 shares have advanced, 129 shares declined, and 31 shares are unchanged.

Wipro and TCS are gainers in the Sensex while Infosys is losing around 1 percent.

On the macro-front, retail inflation accelerated to 8.3 percent in March as food prices jumped, however, core inflation lowered by 10 bps to 7.8 percent.

The Indian rupee opened lower at 60.29 per dollar on Wednesday, down 7 paise compared to previous closing value of 60.22 a dollar.

The dollar erased gains against the euro as traders discounted recent comments from European Central Bank policymakers.

The euro drifting up from one-week lows while the yen trades between 101.50 and 102.00, well within the previous session's range.

Himanshu Arora of Religare expects the rupee to trend mildly lower today amid rise in wholesale inflation which touched a 3-month high. "Also, the phase of short term correction in equities, which started yesterday could keep the rupee under pressure," he adds.

According to him, further good demand for the greenback may be seen from oil importers in short term, supporting the US Dollar. "Range for the day is seen between 59.95-60.65/dollar,'' he says.

In the US, stocks turned higher with the Nasdaq making its largest rebound in five years, as investors weighed upbeat earnings from Dow components Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson against disappointing reads on builder sentiment and New York-area manufacturing, while tracking events in Ukraine.

In commodities, Brent crude prices rose slightly after news that Ukrainian armed forces launched military operations in the east of the country, but futures encountered headwinds from the prospect of rebounding oil exports from Libya and the expiration of the front-month contract

In the precious metals space, gold prices were hammered down 2.1 percent to USD 1,300 an ounce, after the world gold council said consumer demand for the metal could be limited this year.