Markets pare gains to turn flat even as global markets rise

The benchmark indices on Friday pared gains even as  Asian markets rallied after US President Donald Trump promised to unveil a major tax announcement to lower the burden on businesses.

At 12:32 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 28,352, up 23 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,793, up 15 points. 

In the broader market, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices added 0.2% each. 

“Going forward, 8,820 remains to be an immediate hurdle and surpassing this point would extend the rally towards the next milestone of 8,900. On the downside, 8,707-8,685 has now earned tremendous respect from the bears,” said brokerage Angel Broking in a technical note. 

Sectors and stocks

BSE Consumer durables (up 0.8%) was the top sectoral gainer, led by gains in Nilkamal (up 3%), PC Jewellers (up 1.3%) and Rajesh Exports (up 1%).  

Tata Steel added nearly 2% to Rs 469 after Tata Steel UK signed a 100 million pound ($126 million) deal to sell its specialty steel business to Liberty House Group.

Aptech rallied over 5% to Rs 249, extending its Thursday’s 20% surge on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after investor Ashish Kacholia acquired more than 2% stake in the company for Rs 20 crore through open market.

Among losers, Hotel Leela Venture shed 4% to Rs 17 after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said it has started the eviction process against the company, which runs a five-star hotel on the plots of land leased to them near the Mumbai international airport. Besides, the national airports operator has started the proceedings to recover the dues. 

464 firms to report Q3 earnings 

SBI, M& M, GAIL, Tata Power, Reliance Capital, Bank of Baroda, Sun TV and Berger Paints are among 464 firms which will announce their Q3 quarterly earnings today.  

Trump vows 'phenomenal' tax reforms

In a White House meeting with airline executives, Trump promised a "phenomenal" tax plan, but offered no specifics other than citing the need to a lower tax burden on businesses.

"That's coming along very well. We're way ahead of schedule," the president said. "We're going to be announcing something I would say over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax and developing our aviation infrastructure."

Global markets

Asian shares were close to 18-month highs. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1%, testing its loftiest level since July 2015 touched a day earlier. Japan's Nikkei surged 2.4% as it got a tailwind from a weaker yen. China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices also rallied 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. 

Overnight, Wall Street's three main indexes notched record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 118.06 points, or 0.6%, to 20,172.4, the S&P 500 gained 13.2 points, or 0.6%, to 2,307.87 and the Nasdaq Composite added 32.73 points, or 0.6%, to 5,715.18.

(With inputs from Reuters)