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NEW DELHI: Frontline indices Sensex and Nifty opened with tepid gains on Friday ahead of release of fourth-quarter corporate earnings of heavyweights TCS and Infosys.
The market remained cautious, mirroring Thursday's trade, as investors await the corporate earnings and key macroeconomic numbers - IIP data for February and retail inflation prints for March - scheduled for today, to get a direction.
Lacklustre Asian peers kept the mood sombre while rupee's fall against the US dollar further weighed on sentiment.
The domestic currency fell up to 30 paise against the dollar in early trade.
Asian shares were flat and US Treasury yields pulled back on Friday as investor caution prevailed ahead of the release of first-quarter corporate earnings, although stronger US economic data helped offset some concerns about global growth, Reuters reported.
Gains in shares of Reliance Industries, Infosys, TCS, Asian Paints and Axis Bank kept the market in the green.
Around 9:25 am, the BSE Sensex was 57 points, or 0.15 per cent, up at 38,664, while Nifty was 18 points, or 0.15 per cent, up at 11,614.
Midcaps and smallcaps rose in sync with the benchmark Sensex as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were 0.22 per cent and 0.14 per cent up, respectively, at that time.
In the 31-share Sensex pack (including Tata Motors DVR), 20 were trading with gains and 11 were incurring losses.
HDFC, Larsen Toubro, State Bank of India, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto were among the top losers in the Sensex kitty.
Capital Goods was the loser among sectoral indices on BSE.
Losses in shares of Larsen Toubro, Havells, SKF India and Graphite India dragged the index lower.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Rs 467 crore worth of domestic stocks on Thursday, data available with NSE suggested.
DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 16.58 crore, data suggested.
