BENGALURU: Indian shares were off to a muted start on Wednesday as sentiment remained weak after a lacklustre start to the quarterly earnings season, and amid weak global cues.

The Nifty 50 fell 0.08% to 17,643.50, as of 9:37 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.12% to 59,653.73.

Upstream oil companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd and Oil India Ltd fell over 1%, while Reliance Industries traded marginally lower after the government raised windfall tax on crude to 6,400 rupees per tonne from no tax.

The information technology index lost nearly 1% after weak earnings from top two companies Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd, and uncertainty over sustained technology spending by clients in the US and Europe spooked sentiment.

Financials offset IT, pharma gains, drag Indian shares down

“Investors have been nervous after the dismal fourth-quarter performance of IT companies, although IT Index recovered on Tuesday after the drubbing in the previous session,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president (research) at Mehta Equities. Analysts expect the benchmark to remain volatile as corporate earnings trickle in.

Among individual stocks, Piramal Pharma Ltd jumped over 6% after the US drug regulator issued Emergency Inspection Report (EIR) for the manufacturing facility located at Sellersville.