Markets likely to open positive; US jobs data eyed

Markets are likely to open on a positive note mirroring strength in Asian equities.  Meanwhile, crude oil and rupee movement will dictate the trend on the bourses.

Saudi Arabia promised on Thursday not to flood the oil market with extra barrels even as Opec failed to agree on output policy, with Iran insisting on the right to raise production steeply.

GLOBAL MARKET

Asian shares held steady on Friday as investors braced for US payrolls data that could add to or detract from the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike later this month or in July. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.15% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6%. 

Oil prices were also fairly supported, with international benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 settling above $50 a barrel the first time in seven months on Thursday, after the latest drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles offset OPEC's failure to set a ceiling for its output. Brent traded at $50.11 in early Asian trade, up 0.2 percent from Thursday's settlement.

CORPORATE NEWS

Hindustan Unilever, the country's largest consumer goods company, has separated its food & beverages business into two divisions. This is the second such separation of segments in nearly two years at HUL. 

IT major Tech Mahindra bagged a $75 million (over Rs 504 at $1 is equal to Rs 67.29) contract from Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as the prime integrator for a system modernization project. 

A huge blaze involving thousands of litres of oil broke out at a Tata Steel plant in the UK today but there were no reports of any injuries, said a media report. 

Utility vehicle major M&M expanded its zero emission electric vehicle range with the launch of eVerito, its first electric sedan, said a media report. 

For the first time, Jaiprakash Associates, the flagship company of the Jaypee group, has revealed it defaulted on bank loans, interest and statutory payments to the tune of Rs 4,539 crore.

Maruti Suzuki has decided to advance maintenance of its two plants where production was suspended on Monday due to stoppage in supply of car AC units from Subros. Subros' plant in Manesar was badly damaged after a Sunday fire. 

Amidst rising pressure on diesel vehicles, utility vehicle major M&M today expanded its zero emission electric vehicle range with the launch of eVerito, its first electric sedan.

For Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, the desire to become an innovation-led pharmaceutical company is not something new: when it out-licensed two anti-diabetes molecules to Novo Nordisk way back in the 1990s, it became the first company to do so.