Markets open in green, Asian stocks near one-month high

New Delhi: Markets opened in green on Friday on positive Asian cues.

The BSE Sensex jumped 59.56 points or 0.16 percent to 36,166.06 while the NSE Nifty edged higher by 12.45 points or 0.12 percent to 10,834.05.

Top gainers at the BSE include HDFC, ONGC, ITC, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Reliance, Asian Paints, HUL and Tata Steel.

While top losers were TCS, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, M&M, L&T, Indusind Bank and Powergrid.

TCS fell 2.21 percent to 1846.50 after it reported 24.1 percent growth in net profit at Rs 8,105 crore for the quarter ended December 2018.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 344.58 crore Thursday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 10.98 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Asian stocks inched higher to one-month highs on Friday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the US central bank can be patient on raising interest rates further, a Reuters report.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.2 percent higher, while Japan`s benchmark Nikkei advanced 1.1 percent in early trade.

Wall Street extended its rally into a fifth straight day on Thursday in a whipsaw trading session as investors responded to mixed comments by Powell, while a warning from Macy`s pummelled retail stocks.

With Agency Inputs