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Markets are likely to open tad higher, amid firm global cues, but upside gains may be capped as selling by foreign funds is likely to weigh on investor sentiment.
At 8:30AM, the early indicator was up 5 points at 8,133.
Foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 9.5 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Asian shares firmed on the back of encouraging reports on the initial public offering by Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba Group. Shares in Japan were trading higher as the yen weakened against the US dollar. The benchmark Nikkei was up 1.4% at 16,301. The Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng were trading flat with positive bias while Straits Times was up 0.3%.
US markets ended higher on Thursday with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting fresh record highs after the US Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates near zero. Meanwhile US housing starts and permits dropped in August while data for last week showed sharp drop in new claims for unemployment benefits. The Dow Jones ended up 109 points at 17,265.99, S&P 500 gained 10 points at 2,011.36 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 31 points at 4,593.43.
Stocks to watch
In a move that might impact major drug makers such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, Cadila Health, and Lupin, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the prices of 19 medicines and their 43 different drug packs, including anti-infectives, gastro-intestinal drugs and vaccines. Among multinational companies, Pfizer, Sanofi and Reckitt Benckiser are likely to take a hit.
Cipla announced that it has signed an agreement with Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a US-based speciality pharmaceutical company. Under the agreement, Cipla has granted Salix exclusive rights under certain patent applications in the
‘Rifaximin Complexes’ patent family controlled by Cipla.
India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA), an India-focused private equity fund, has picked up a 10 per cent stake in Syngene, the research services subsidiary of publicly-held Biocon Ltd, through its fund Silver Leaf Oak (Mauritius) Ltd for Rs 380 crore.
Amara Raja Batteries will be under pressure on reports that the company wants to pay promoter entity upfront for a 99-year lease at a higher rate.
Infosys will be in action after it said it has widened collaboration with Microsoft and Hitachi Data Systems, in line with chief executive Vishal Sikka's vision to strengthen software offerings and expand global alliances.
