The Indian market erased opening gains as macro concerns offset robust third quarter earnings from bluechips Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever amid largely positive Asian cues on Friday. Investors turned cautious after finance minister Arun Jaitley hinted at a farm relief package in the interim budget, saying that the agriculture sector has been facing challenges.

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"I cannot announce any decision but all I can tell you is that the farm sector, from the very data itself as it indicates, has been facing challenges," Jaitley said, while speaking at India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) in Mumbai.

At 9.55 am, the Sensex was trading lower by nearly 35 points at 36,339, while the Nifty was at 10,900, down by 5 points. The Sensex started nearly 70 points higher, or 0.19 percent, at 36,443.70, while the Nifty was up by more than 18 points, or 0.17 percent, at 10,923.60.

Broader markets soon turned negative with the Nifty MidCap trading in the red.

At 9.55 am, as many as 25 sectors declined with Nifty Pharma dipping the most by 2.36 percent.

Sun Pharma shares dipped more than 12 percent after Moneylife opened up whistleblower documents for institutional investors.

Other laggards also included UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, Eicher Motors and M&M, falling between 0.5 percent and 0.86 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries surged 1.64 percent, batting for the bulls and contributing maximum to Nifty gains, after the oil-retail-telecom conglomerate declared its Q3 earnings on Thursday evening.

RIL reported a 8.8 percent increase in its net profit

to Rs 10,251 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018 on account of refining, petrochemicals margins.

FMCG major, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), on Thursday posted a 9 percent increase in net profit at Rs 1,444 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018 on account of rural demand. HUL shares were down by 0.60 percent after initial surge.

NTPC, ONGC, Power Grid and Vedanta were among the gainers, rising between 0.56 percent and 0.86 percent.

Shares of Wipro will also remain in focus ahead of its Q3 earnings later in the day. The IT major will also decide on a bonus share issue later.

TheIndian rupee opened lower against the greenback on Friday, as growing optimism on progress in Sino-US trade talks boosted the dollar and lifted oil prices. The home currency opened at 71.08 against the greenback, after Thursday's close of 71.03.

Asian shares were largely higher with Japan's Nikkei up by 1.3 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up a percent, while South Korea's Kospi was higher by 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index surged 0.80 percent.

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First Published:Jan 18, 2019 10:15 AM IST