Nifty facing resistance above 8,600; oil shares gain

Markets firmed up in late noon trades led by oil and gas shares

Benchmark share indices firmed up in late noon trade led by oil and gas shares. However, profit taking at higher levels capped further upsides.

At 2pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 16 points at 27,659 and the Nifty50 was up 4 points at 8,578. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.7%-0.9% each.

Shares of oil & gas companies were trading firm in otherwise range-bound market with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Petronet LNG and Gail (India) hitting their respective 52-week highs on the BSE in intra-day trade.

According to Reuters report, Oil prices edged up supported by record Indian crude imports and upcoming talks between OPEC producers and other oil exporters on curbing output to end a glut in the global market.

Other gainers include, index heavyweight Reliance Industries and engineering major L&T.

TCS was up nearly 2%. TCS beat estimates on margin and net profit growth, but missed expectation on topline growth. The company’s consolidated net profit grew 4.3% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 6,586 crore. Revenue rose 0.1% at Rs 29,284 crore sequentially. The operating profit margins up 94 basis points sequentially to 26%.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises was down 3.7% to Rs 527 on BSE in intra-day trade, extending its previous day’s nearly 4% fall, after a media report stating that the Subhash Chandra-promoted company plans to buy Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Broadcast Networks for Rs 1,872 crore. However, the company in a clarification to the BSE said that “As company, we keep exploring options from time to time and will inform the exchanges/media/shareholders, if and as and when any such decision(s) are reached,”

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(Updated at 11:45am)
Markets have been trading absolutely flat despite the positive quarter results posted by Infosys.

At 11:45 am, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up by mere 45 points or 0.2%, trading at 27,688 levels while Nifty50 edged up 11 points, trading around 8,585 levels.

The broader markets, however, have done better than the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap gained 0.72% and 0.59% each.  

Hindustan Unilever extended losses and was down over 2%. Unilever, the world’s second-largest consumer goods company, lowered its outlook for India after reporting weak third-quarter results on Thursday, saying tepid demand and competitive intensity posed challenges to it there.

GAIL, ONGC and Larsen and Toubro were the major gainers om the Sensex pack, gaining between 1%-4%, while Hindustan Unilever, Lupin Ltd, and Infosys were the top loses, slipping between 1%-3%.

Infosys Ltd, India’s second largest software exporter cut its annual forecast for the second time to 8-9 per cent growth this year, suggesting that the IT industry struggles in an uncertain business environment is far from over.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has moved higher by 2.4% to Rs 2,384, recovering nearly 4% from intra-day low on the BSE. The stock of information technology (IT) major hit an intra-day low of Rs 2,299, down 1% against Thursday’s close, after the company posted 0.3% sequential growth in USD revenues to US$ 4,374 million for the second quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17).

Global Markets

Asian stocks and the dollar bounced on Friday, erasing some losses from the previous day, as stronger-than-expected Chinese inflation data eased some concerns about the health of the world's second-biggest economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.4% after dropping 1.1% on Thursday, when weak Chinese export numbers hit global equities, stopped a rise in US yields and halted the dollar's advance.

The index was headed for a loss of 2.1% on the week.

Chinese data again set the tone on Friday, with September producer prices unexpectedly rising for the first time in nearly five years, while consumer inflation also beat expectations.

The producer price increase will be good news for profits and for Beijing as the government struggles to reduce a mountain of corporate debt. ECONCN

South Korea's Kospi .KS11 added 0.6% and Australian stocks were flat. Shanghai .SSEC dipped 0.5% while the Hang Seng .HSI rose 0.7%.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 0.5%. It looked set to end the week flat as investors braced for upcoming earnings reports, notably those of financials.