Pre-Market: Stocks to watch in trade on Friday

Reliance Industries, Wockhardt, ICICI Bank, SpiceJet, SBI and ITC are likely to be in the limelight this morning

Here are a few stocks that are likely to be in focus today:

Reliance Industries and its partner BP plc have surrendered two more oil and gas blocks, reducing their tally to four exploration acreages from 21 they held four years back, according to reports.

Wockhardt is likely to be in action as a product from its new drug discovery programme, which aims to treat pneumonia, has reportedly received QIDP status from the US health regulator.

ICICI Bank is set to be in focus as it has reportedly sold Rs 250 crore of non-convertible debentures issued by Lavasa Corporation, a subsidiary of HCC, to loan  recovery firm Arcil Ltd.

According to reports, SpiceJet plans to raise a low-cost debt of Rs 300 crore as part of recapitalisation to shore up its finances after the budget carrier changed hands earlier this year.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises reported a 7.26% rise in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 231.9 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015.

Indiabulls Real Estate reported an over two-fold increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 93.13 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015.

Shipping Corporation of India reported more than seven-fold jump in net profit at Rs 101.49 crore for the quarter ended March 31 on gains from sale of ships.

SBI and ITC will be unveiling their Q4 numbers later in the day.

MARKET COMMENTARY

The markets are likely to open flat, given the mixed trend across the Asian bourses.

The Sensex had ended at 27,809, down 27 points and the Nifty had settled at 8,421, down 2 points on Thursday. On would have to see if the Nifty manages to defend the technically crucial level of 8,400.

On the global front, the Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.34 point up at 18,285.74. The Nasdaq Composite rose 19.05 points, or 0.38 percent, to 5,090.79. The S&P 500 gained 4.97 points, or 0.23 percent, to end at 2,130.82 points.

Asian markets were trading mixed this morning. Japan's Nikkei was mildly in the negative as investors await the latest policy decision from the Bank of Japan, and Jakarta had also edged lower in early trades. On the other hand, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai index were trading firm by around 1% each.