Despite sluggishness in Asian stock markets, India managed to remain in the positive terrain. The Sensex was up 38.82 points at 19543.00 while the Nifty was up 9.70 points at 5939.90.

Buoyed down by disappointing fourth quarter (January-March) earnings, Bharti Airtel (down 3.5 percent) was the biggest loser in the Sensex. The country’s largest telecom operator’s net profit rose lower-than-expected 79 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 508.6 crore.

Total income increased nearly one percent to Rs 20,448 crore from Rs 20,253.7 crore Q-o-Q, which was below expectations. FMCG major HUL too gave up its gain in the early trade as it was down 0.7 percent. Marico was down 1.9 percent while Dabur gained around 1 percent. Tata Motors, Hindalco and Tata Power were the other losers in the Sensex.

Auto stocks were reeling under April auto sales number. The new financial year started on a mixed note for car makers with leading firms, including Maruti Suzuki , Mahindra & Mahindra , Honda Cars and General Motors, reporting growth in domestic sales in April.

However, other manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor, Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar and Ford India, witnessed decline in sales during the month.

Capital goods and realty stocks were also losing strength. Meanwhile, HDFC, TCS, ONGC, HDFC Bank and SBI were the biggest gainers in the Sensex. Bharti Airtel Thursday reported a fourth quarter(January-March) net profit of Rs Rs 508.6 crore, up 79 percent quarter-on-quarter, but way below what analysts were expecting. Total income increased nearly one percent to Rs 20,448 crore from Rs 20,253.7 crore Q-o-Q, which too was below expectations. The stock fell 3.2 percent in early trade to Rs 308.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after results.