Mumbai: Indian shares traded marginally higher on Friday after hitting a record high at open as financials gained, while healthcare and energy stocks edged lower as investors took a breather after a prolonged rally. Investor sentiment has been upbeat in India with the government’s recent announcement of a recapitalisation plan for banks. “Overall, markets can be volatile as they’ve hit steep levels ... This quarter, results are better than expected,” said Siddharth Sedani, vice president, head equity advisory, Anand Rathi. Here are the latest updates:
■ 11.50am: Steel Strips Wheels Ltd has received an order from Europe to export 10,000 truck wheels. The order value would be over €3.9 million. Shares rose 3.07% to Rs868.75.
■ 11.05am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 73.16 points, or 0.22%, to 33,646.38, while the Nifty 50 rose 20.20 points, or 0.19%, to 10,444.
■ 10.58am: Natco Pharma Ltd said that its marketing partner Alvogen received final approval for generic equivalent to oseltamivir phosphate powder for oral suspension in US. Natco Pharma shares fell 2.68% to Rs970.
■ 10.40am: India’s dominant services industry activity expanded at its fastest pace in four months in October as demand continued to strengthen despite accelerating price pressures, Reuters reported. The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.7 last month - its highest since June - from 50.7 in September.
■ 10.30am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 25.62 points, or 0.08%, to 33,598.84, while the Nifty 50 edged up 8.10 points, or 0.08%, to 10,431.90.
■ 10.25am: PNB (up 1.62%), Hindalco (up 0.93%), Tata Power (up 0.77%), Titan (up 1.04%) and UCO Bank (down 1.54%) are among the companies that will be announcing their September quarter earnings today.
■ 9.57am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 10.10 points, or 0.03%, to 33,583.32, while the Nifty 50 edged down 2.15 points, or 0.02%, to 10,421.65.
■ 9.53am: Bharati Airtel Ltd up 3.2% to Rs560.50 after huge block deal. Around 184.70 million shares or 4.6% stake of the company changed hands in single block deal, according to a Bloomberg report. However, details of the buyers and sellers were not known.
■ 9.50am: Andhra Bank fell 4% to Rs 65.85 after the company reported a loss of Rs 385 crore in September quarter against a profit of Rs 51 crore last year same quarter.
■ 9.45am: GE T&D India Ltd surges 15% to Rs 431.05 after the company reported 131% jump in its net profit to Rs 47.52 crore against Rs 20.52 crore a year ago.
■ 9.27am: BSE Sensex opened higher by 67.36 points, or 0.20%, to 33,640.58, while the Nifty 50 rose 20.20 points, or 0.19%, to 10,444.00.
■ 9.23am: Hindalco Industries Ltd rose 2.3% to Rs276.40 after its arm Novalis posted strong earnings. Novelis’ 2Q adj. EBITDA (ex metal price lag) grew 12% YoY, 4% ahead of our estimate. Volumes were in line, but margins surprised positively again led by rising auto mix. Novelis raised its EBITDA guidance for FY18 by ~4.4%. Auto shipments remain strong and beverage can market in North America has been steady.
■ 9.20am: Hathway Cable & Datacom Ltd hits 20% upper circuit to Rs38.25 after the company reported a net profit of Rs14.01 crore in September quarter against a net loss of Rs40.44 crore a year ago.
■ 9.17am: Hindustan Construction Co Ltd fell 3.6% to Rs 38 after the company reported 50% decline in its net profit in September quarter to Rs 11.60 crore against Rs 23.08 crore a year ago.
■ 9.15am: The rupee opened at 64.58 a dollar. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 64.55 against the dollar, up 0.07% from its Thursday’s close of 64.61.
■ 9.13am: The 10-year bond yield was at 6.855% compared to its previous close of 6.861%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
■ 9.10am: Asian currencies were trading mixed ahead of the US non-farm payrolls data. China Offshore spot was down 0.14%, Singapore dollar 0.13%, China renminbi 0.1%, Thai Baht 0.06%, Malaysian ringgit 0.06%. However, Indonesian rupiah was up 0.39%, South Korean won 0.16%, Philippines peso 0.16%, Taiwan dollar 0.07%, Japanese yen 0.05%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.69, up 0.01% from its previous close of 94.685.
With inputs from Reuters
