FIRST TRADE: Sensex up 100 pts, Nifty above 16,650; Indian Energy Exchange sinks 10%

Domestic equities opened in the green on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex traded around 100 points higher at 62,942.17 and the NSE's Nifty was ruling at 18,661.50, up 27 points, or 0.14 per cent. Among Sensex stocks, Titan (up over 1 per cent) was the top gainer, followed by IndusInd Bank (up 1 per cent) and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, Tata Steel was the biggest laggard, down over 1 per cent. 

“Amid buying action in overnight US markets and Asian equities in the morning, local shares are likely to trade higher in early Friday trades. However, intra-day volatility could persist as investors fear the Federal Reserve could remain hawkish at its June 14 meeting after a surprise interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada. But the positive takeaway from Governor Shaktikanta Das’s statement was that the Indian economy and financial sector remained resilient despite global challenges, while the Southwest monsoon rains arriving over Kerala will be a sentiment booster. Technically, bears are likely to be at bay as long as Nifty is above the 18463 support, while there is a bright chance that bulls will be able to reclaim Nifty’s all-time-high at the 18888 mark," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

BUZZING STOCKS

Indian Energy Exchange shares continued to slide. The stock tumbled another 15 per cent after the reports said that the Power Ministry has asked the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to introduce the ‘market coupling’ mechanism for spot power trading. The stock on Thursday settled around 9 per cent lower. At the time of writing this report, the stock was quoting at Rs 123.40, down 9.6 per cent on the BSE. Besides, One 97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, surged 5 per cent in the morning trade. Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar was trading nearly 9 per cent higher at Rs 16.50 on the BSE.

BROADER MARKET

The S&P BSE MidCap index was up 0.39 per cent higher at 27,616.78 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index was up 0.27 per cent at 31,470.87.

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Asia-Pacific equities rose to their highest level since mid-February on Friday, taking cues from an overnight Wall Street rally as market bets firmed for the Federal Reserve to skip a rate hike next week. Japanese and Australian bond yields followed those on U.S. Treasuries lower, and the dollar remained on the defensive early in the Asian session, as per a Reuters report.