Markets extend gains; Sensex up over 100 points on earnings optimism

The domestic market extended gains in late morning deals on Friday thanks to gains in index heavyweights Adani Ports, State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank. Positive trend in Asian markets also contributed to the gains. 

At 11:25 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 35,405, up 145 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,848, up 32 points. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices were marginally higher up to 0.4 per cent.

Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive. On the BSE, 1,368 shares gained, 1,210 shares declined, while 111 shares remained unchanged.

Private sector lender YES Bank rose 2.85 per cent after it reported 22 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,076.87 crore during the third quarter ended December 2017.

Reliance Industries was trading higher by 1.15 per cent ahead of earnings to be announced later in the day.

Among losers, Bharti Airtel shed nearly 2 per cent to Rs 485 in intraday trade on the BSE after the telecom major reported a 39% drop in its consolidated net profit to ₹305.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, mainly on account of reduction in domestic interconnection charges.

On the economic front, the GST Council on Wednesday cut tax rate on 29 goods, including second-hand vehicles, confectionery and bio-diesel, while veering around to simplifying return filing process for businesses.

Also, tax rate on 54 categories of services, including certain job works, tailoring services and admission to theme parks, have been lowered.

Asian markets edged higher and were within reach of record highs, although losses on Wall Street slowed the advance. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1 per cent. Australian stocks were mostly flat, South Korea's KOSPI climbed 0.1 per cent and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.2 per cent.  

Overnight, US stocks saw the strong upward move, while the major averages moved to the downside after ending Wednesday's trading at record closing highs. The Dow Jones ended on a downside front of 0.4% at 26,018 and the Nasdaq Composite edged up to 7,296.