Summary: Crude oil prices, March quarter earnings, and US-China trade tensions would be the key monitorable for investors on Friday. On Thursday, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 279 points to close at 37,393 levels. The broader Nfity50 index added 100 points to settle at 11,257 mark. The rupee closed marginally higher at Rs 70.03 per dollar, up 30 paise against Wednesday’s close of Rs 70.33. CORPORATE RESULTS Bajaj Auto, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Indian Oil Corporation, and Zee Learn are among the 84 companies that are scheduled to report their Q4FY19 results today. GLOBAL CUES Asian shares were trying to hold steady on Friday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1 per cent and was off a 15-week trough. Japan’s Nikkei bounced 0.7 per cent in early trade, while the main Australian index added 0.5 per cent. On Wall Street, indices ended higher during the overnight trade on Thursday adding about a per cent each. While Dow Jones Industrial Average added 215 points to settle at 25,863 levels, S&P500 closed 25 points higher at 2,876. Nasdaq was up 76 points to end at 7,898 levels. CRUDE CHECK Oil prices extended gains on Friday as rising tensions in the Middle East stoked fears of potential supply disruptions. Brent crude futures were at $72.82 a barrel around 6:00 am, up 0.3 per cent, from their last close.
