Indian markets were off to a strong start today, with Sensex jumping over 200 points and Nifty crossing the 11,000 mark. Asian stocks saw another muted session today, with trading becalmed by Lunar New Year holidays. Among the Sensex stocks, HCL Tech, NTPC, Infosys, ICICI Bank, RIL, Asian Paints and ONGC were up over 1%. Among the losers, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and IndusInd Bank were down around 1%.
HPCL shares higher on earnings boost
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd or HPCL rose 2% to ₹229.65 after the company reported unexpected profit for December quarter despite higher crude oil prices. The company reported net profit of ₹247.55 crore in the quarter against ₹1,949.69 crore a year ago.
Rupee flat against US dollar
Rupee was trading little changed against US dollar today as many Asian markets remained shut for the Lunar New Year. The rupee was trading at 71.54 a dollar, higher than its previous close of 71.57. The home currency opened at 71.55 a dollar.
Tokyo stocks open higher helped by rallies in US
Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday helped by a cheaper yen and rallies on Wall Street, but investors remained cautious ahead of the US State of the Union address.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.39 percent or 82.24 points at 20,926.69 while the broader Topix index edged up 0.28 percent or 4.47 points to 1,587.35.