Weak global cues to weigh on markets

Asian shares were weak with Japanese benchmark Nikkei down over 5%

Benchmark share indices would continue to remain under pressure amid sharp sell-off in Japan and overnight losses on Wall Street.

At 8:30am, the early indicator SGX Nifty was up 1.4% at 7,018.

Foreign investors were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 1,113 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks were trading with losses on Friday on concerns over health of banks in the euro zone. Japanese shares witnessed a sell-off after the yen strengthened against the US dollar. The benchmark Nikkei slumped over 5% while Hang Seng eased 1%. However, Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.2%.
 
US stocks ended rebounded from their day's amid a partial recovery in late trades led by energy shares. Bank shares were among the top losers on global growth concerns. Dow Jones industrial average ended down 1.6% at 15,660 and the S&P 500 eased 1.2% at 1,829 and Nasdaq closed 0.4% lower at 4,267.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

Coal India reported reported a higher-than-expected 14% rise in its consolidated quarterly net profit on higher sales.Net profit stood at Rs 3,718 crores in the third quarter ended December 2015 from Rs 3,262 crores a year earlier.

Jubiland FoodWorks’ net earnings plunged 9.3% during October-December 2015 due to higher employee costs and depreciation. The firm posted Rs 31.7 crore net profit compared to Rs 35 crore in same period last year.

Indian Bank has reported a 84.75% drop in its net profit at Rs 42.30 crore during the third quarter as compared to Rs 277.52 crore during the same period last year. The bank has attributed the reduction in net profit to higher provisioning towards bad assets.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported 64% drop in its December quarter net profit mainly because of one-time write off on falling crude oil prices. Net profit in October-December at Rs 1,286 crore was 64% lower than Rs 3,571 crore in the same period a year ago.

Natco Pharma may gain after it reported over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 37.15 crore for the third quarter ended December 2015. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 14.34 crore during the same quarter of the previous fiscal as it was hit by a one-off item of Rs 1,513 crore paid for settlement of a legal dispute.

Voltas may decline after it reported 49.52% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 54.19 crore for the December quarter. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 107.37 crore in the same period last fiscal.

United Bank of India may see some pressure reported a net profit of Rs 17 crore for the quarter ended December 2015, against Rs 41.78 crore in the same period last year, a fall of nearly 59 per cent over the same period last year.

GMR Infrastructure may firm up after it reported narrowing of its consolidated net loss to Rs 379.38 crore for the December quarter on the back of resolution of regulatory bottlenecks and better operating margins from power plants against loss of Rs 638.33 crore in the same quarter last year.

Wipro may firm up after it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Florida-based health care technology solutions provider, HealthPlan Services, for $460 million (Rs 3,144 crore).