Index heavyweight Reliance Industries will declare its June quarter results post market hours
The domestic stock markets have opened in the green, building on the one per cent rally witnessed in the previous session, on the back of return of stability in the global markets. At 9:20 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 52,955.01, higher by 116.30 points or 0.23 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 15,859.50, up 37.45 points or 0.25 per cent.
The broader markets were outperforming their largecap counterparts, with the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index gaining 0.5 per cent and 0.6 per cent each.
Meanwhile, Zomato shares have made a stellar debut on the bourses after the share listing was advanced from the scheduled date of July 27. The shares of the food startup opened at Rs 116, a premium of 53 per cent compared to the issue price of Rs 76. At 10:05 am, Zomato shares were trading at the day's high of Rs 134.70, up 77.63 per cent on the BSE and Rs 135.60, up 77.57 per cent on the NSE.
Shares in Asia-Pacific were marginally lower in Friday morning trade as investors monitor Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong after regulatory concerns resurfaced. South Korea's Kospi sat below the flatline in early trade. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.18 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded lower by 0.07 per cent.
US stock markets closed higher after a mixed trading session as investors digested negative economic data reflecting the country's struggle to move past the COVID-19 pandemic, while yields on safe-haven assets such as US Treasuries slipped. The Dow Jones rose 25.35 points, the S&P 500 gained 8.79 points and Nasdaq Composite added 52.64 points.
On the earnings front, index heavyweight Reliance Industries will declare its June quarter results post market hours. Ambuja Cements, JSW Steel, Federal Bank, United Spirits and Yes Bank will also declare their results during the day.
In the commodities market, oil prices slipped on Thursday after an unexpected rise in U.S crude oil inventories and as rising Covid-19 infections threaten demand, but prices held on to most of their gains from the previous session on expectations that supplies will remain tight through year-end.
Brent crude fell 11 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $72.12 a barrel and U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 6 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $70.24 a barrel.
On the stock-specific front, Tata Steel, HCL Tech, Ultratech Cement and Titan have gained around one per cent each on the BSE. And Reliance Industries has edged higher by 0.1 per cent to Rs 2,123 ahead of its June quarter numbers.
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever has extended its previous day's losses post the June quarter numbers.The FMCG major had edged lower by 0.5 per cent to Rs 2,365 to top the losers list on the BSE. L&T, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel are also trading marginally in the red.
The BSE market breadth is strong. Out of 2,679 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1541 advancing stocks as against 1,055 declines.
