MUMBAI: Indian shares on Wednesday edged 0.1 percent lower tracking weak Asian peers, but losses were limited as investors cheered better-than-expected earnings from Tata Motors, which soared to at least a 20-year high.

Tata Motors, which produces the ultra-cheap car Nano, rose as much as 6.4 percent to 1,019.90 rupees, after announcing late Tuesday its fourth straight quarterly profit driven by demand for its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

Edelweiss raised Tata Motors to "buy" from "reduce", while Citi Investments Research raised the target price on the stock to 1,197 rupees from 947 rupees per share.

By 10:49 a.m. (0519 GMT), the 30-share BSE Index was trading down 0.1 percent at 18,201.10 points, with 19 of its components declining.

Elsewhere in the region, the MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was down 1.1 percent while Japan's Nikkei shed 2.5 percent.

"Tata Motors is supporting the market. Some investors might prefer the stock over its other peers in the pack, considering the better earnings visibility and turnaround," said Kunal Sukhani, manager of institutional equities at Asian Markets Securities, who expects rangebound trade in the day.

Shares in Bharti Airtel fluctuated after the top mobile operator reported a 32-percent fall in quarterly profit, including its African operations which it acquired in June in a $9 billion deal.

The stock was down 0.5 percent, but had risen as much as 3.5 percent to 335.60 rupees, its highest since January.

Cigarette-to-hotel business ITC was down 1.3 percent after the recent rise in the stock. The stock is still up 0.6 percent so far in August.

Energy giant Reliance Industries was down 0.4 percent, as dealers remained worried about the delay in the ramp up of its gas production.