Local stocks are trading with small losses in early trade. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 31.20 points or 0.06% at 49,461.12. The Nifty 50 index was down 21.05 points or 0.14% at 14,543.80.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.63%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.3%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1151 shares rose and 710 shares fell. A total of 72 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in news:

Infosys dropped 2.76%. Infosys' net profit jumped 16.6% to Rs 5,197 crore on a 12.3% rise in revenues to Rs 25,927 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3FY21) over Q3 December 2019 (Q3FY20). Sequentially, net profit rose 7.3% and revenue increased 5.5% in Q3FY21 over Q2 September 2020 (Q2FY21).

Infosys has revised FY21 growth guidance upward to 4.5% to 5% in constant currency term. Operating margin for FY21 is revised upward in the range of 24% to 24.5%.

Wipro lost 2.67%. Wipro reported 20.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,968 crore on a 3.68% increase in revenue to Rs 15,670 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21). The company's consolidated net profit has grown by 20.85% and revenue has risen by 1.29% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Wipro expects revenue from its IT services business to be in the range of $2,102 million to $2,143 million in Q4 March 2021, a sequential growth of 1.5% to 3.5%.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) fell 0.06%. TCS has launched a curated version of its flagship cloud management and orchestration platform, TCS Cloud Exponence on Microsoft Azure.

Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID) rose 0.54%. POWERGRID has signed the 'Termination Agreement' amongst Reliance Infrastructure (Rlnfra) and Parbati Koldam Transmission Company (PKTCL) terminating the Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) dated 23 November 2007, which was executed between POWERGRID, Rlnfra and PKTCL to form a JVC named PKTCL, wherein POWERGRID and Rlnfra hold 26% and 74% equity shares in PKTCL, respectively.

SAIL slumped 9.04% to Rs 67.95. SAIL said the government will sell up to a 10% stake in the company through offer for sale on January 14-15 and the floor price has been fixed at Rs 64 per share.

Indian Bank rose 0.67%. Indian Bank has successfully raised Tier 2 Capital Fund through Private Placement of Basel III compliant Tier 2 Bonds aggregating to Rs 2000 crore at a coupon of 6.18% p.a. payable annually.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday as investors await the release of Chinese trade data for December.

On the coronavirus vaccine front, trial data published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine reportedly showed Johnson & Johnson's one-shot Covid vaccine is safe and appears to generate a immune response in both young and elderly volunteers. J&J's vaccine candidate, which only requires one dose, could simplify logistics for health-care providers. The two vaccines currently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna require two doses about three to four weeks apart.

In US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed slightly higher on Wednesday, led by tech shares, as traders kept an eye on interest rates, the political uncertainty coming out of Washington and a still raging pandemic. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to release details on his economic plan on Thursday.

The S&P 500 index gained 0.2% to end the day at 3,809.84, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.4% to 13,128.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just 8.22 points lower, or 0.03%, at 31,060.47.

Meanwhile, turmoil in Washington continues with the House on Wednesday impeaching U.S. President Donald Trump for inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.

Back home, the domestic equity barometers ended almost flat after a volatile session on Wednesday. Select autos and PSU banks advanced while pharma and financial stocks lagged. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 24.79 points or 0.05% to 49,492.32. The Nifty 50 index added 1.40 points or 0.01% to 14,564.85.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,879.06 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,370.17 crore in the Indian equity market on 13 January, provisional data showed.

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