Market may open on a flat note

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 3 points at the opening bell.

On the political front, after a four-hour long, post-midnight hearing on a Congress-JD(S) petition, the Supreme Court refused to stay BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurppa's swearing-in as Karnataka chief minister at 09:00 IST today, 17 May 2018. The Supreme Court made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation would be subject to its final order on the Congress-JD(S) petition before it.

Karnataka delivered a hung Assembly on Tuesday with no party getting a clear majority to form government in the state. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single-largest party, winning 104 seats, falling marginally short of the 113 seats needed to form a government. The Congress and the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) stood second and third with wins on 78 and 38 seats respectively.

Overseas, most stocks in Asia advanced on after solid American economic data buoyed US shares. US stocks gained as retailer results and solid economic data boosted confidence in the American economy.

Back home,key benchmark indices logged modest losses after a highly volatile session yesterday, 16 May 2018. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 156.06 points or 0.44% to settle at 35,387.88. The Nifty 50 index fell 60.75 points or 0.56% to settle at 10,741.10.

The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 699.22 crore yesterday, 16 May 2018 as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 229.06 crore yesterday, 16 May 2018, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news,On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel reported net profit of Rs 14688.02 crore in Q4 March 2018 compared with net loss of Rs 1168.02 crore in Q4 March 2017. Net sales rose 7.05% to Rs 35737.19 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The company received one-time exceptional gain of Rs 11376.14 crore in March quarter. The exceptional gain includes a non-cash gain of Rs 14077 crore on account of restructuring of UK pension scheme.

Commenting on the result, TV Narendran, CEO & MD said that Tata Steel performance has been robust in FY 2018 driven by strong execution strategy and supported by favourable global demand-supply balance. During the year, the company's Indian operations delivered volume growth better than the market on the back of the ramp-up at our Kalinganagar plant and the strength of the firm's marketing network and brand equity. Growth was broad-based across our marketing segments.

Gross debt as on 31 March 2018 increased to Rs 92147 crore, mainly driven by foreign exchange translation impact. Net debt declined to Rs 69215 crore. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 May 2018.

On a consolidated basis, net profit of JSW Steel rose 185.33% to Rs 2879 crore on 22.96% rise in net sales to Rs 20027 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 May 2018.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News