From Q4 earnings to global cues, 10 things to know before opening bell on Dalal Street today

The Indian markets on Thursday traded firm on the monthly expiry day and gained nearly half a percent. Most sectors contributed to the move wherein realty, IT and auto were the top gainers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 348.80 points or 0.58 per cent to settle at 60,649.38 and the NSE Nifty advanced 101.45 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 17,915.05. Besides, the broader indices traded in sync with the trend and gained in the range of 0.5-1 per cent yesterday.

Except for Nifty FMCG, all of the key sectors ended in the green. The Nifty IT, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Auto sectors all gained 1.07, 1.53, and 0.76 percent, respectively. In Nifty stocks, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and BPCL were the top gainers while HDFC Life, HUL and Power Grid were the laggards.

Stay tuned to Zeebiz.com to find out what could impact your trade today. We have collated a list of the top 10 news points which could impact markets, companies, or the economy:

Global Markets:

US stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday and Treasury yields resumed their climb as strong earnings helped investors look past signs of economic weakness.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 524.59 points, or 1.58%, to 33,826.46 the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 79.4 points, or 1.96%, to 4,135.39 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 287.89 points, or 2.43%, to 12,142.24.

Asian Markets:

Most Asian stocks were in the green tracking the US stock markets during the early morning session on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei grew by over 0.3 per cent, China’s Shanghai up by 0.14 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surge most by over 0.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4 per cent today.

SGX Nifty:

Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty — an early indicator of the Nifty 50 index — was up 57 points or 0.32 per cent at 18,050.5 at this hour on Friday, suggesting a weak start ahead in the Indian share market today. It opened at 18,040.5 and touched the day’s high at 18,061 levels.

Rupee declines by 5 paise

The rupee pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 5 paise at 81.79 against the US currency on Thursday amid a strengthening greenback overseas and foreign capital outflows.

However, the strong sentiment in the domestic equities market restricted the rupee's fall, forex traders said.

US dollar index rises

The dollar rose on Thursday as weaker-than-expected U.S. economic growth in the first quarter is viewed as not likely to deter the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates next week.

The advance estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) showed a 1.1% annualized rate during the period. The economy grew at a 2.6% pace in the fourth quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast GDP rising at a 2.0% rate.

Crude oil prices stable

Oil prices steadied on Thursday after the previous day's price drop erased the supportive impact of a surprise cut to OPEC production targets this month. Prices stabilised as Russian Deputy Prime Alexander Novak described oil markets on Thursday as balanced.

Brent crude edged up 18 cents, or 0.23%, to $77.87 a barrel by 1344 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 12 cents, or 0.16%, to $74.42.

Mankind Pharma IPO subscribed 15.32x

The initial share sale of Mankind Pharma received 15.32 times subscription on the last day of offer on Thursday, helped by a huge interest from institutional buyers. The IPO received bids for 42,95,12,902 shares against 2,80,41,192 shares on offer, according to NSE data.

The portion for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 49.16 times, while non institutional investors category received 3.80 times subscription and Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) 92 per cent.

Q4 results update

Index heavyweights such as Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, and other broader markets companies announce their March quarter earnings on Thursday.

The earnings momentum is expected to continue on Friday as cement major UltraTech Cement and private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank among other companies are scheduled to release their fourth-quarter earnings of the previous fiscal today.

RBI Guv: Banks should have adequate liquidity

Indian banks should have adequate capital buffers and liquidity and be ready to report earnings even under macroeconomic stress, the country's central bank chief said on Thursday.

"Our approach has been to enhance the resilience as well as the robustness of the financial sector so that individual entities effectively withstand stressful situations and continue to contribute to the economic development of the country," Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said at an event in Mumbai.

FII & DII Data:

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers for Rs 1,652.95 crore in the Indian markets while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 97.07 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed on the NSE.

(With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies)