Record closing: Nifty ends at 8322, Sensex soars 519 points

03:30 Market closing: The market ended at record closing levels with mighty gains. The Sensex was up 519.50 points or 1.9 percent at 27865.83 and the Nifty ended up 153.00 points or 1.9 percent at 8322.20. About 1770 shares advanced, 1214 shares declined and 128 shares were unchanged.

GAIL, Tata Power, HDFC, L&T and Tata Steel were top gainers in the Sensex. Deagged by Q2 results, Bharti and ITC were major losers.

03:15 pm Market check: The Sensex is up 534.47 points or 1.9 percent at 27880.80 and the Nifty is up 153.55 points or 1.9 percent at 8322.75. About 1768 shares have advanced, 1203 shares declined, and 122 shares are unchanged.

03:00 pm Results
Multiplex operator PVR today reported a decline of 66.60 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 9.20 crore for the quarter ended September 30. The company had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 27.55 crore for the July-September quarter of last fiscal.

However, PVR's total consolidated income from operations during the second quarter increased 9.41 per cent to Rs 400.20 crore as against Rs 334.45 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a BSE filing.

02:50 pm Market check
The market is on fire with the Nifty hitting 8300 and 27803.30. Currently, the Sensex is up 433.13 points or 1.6 percent at 27779.46 and the Nifty is up 124.75 points or 1.5 percent at 8293.95.  About 1764 shares have advanced, 1132 shares declined, and 126 shares are unchanged.

Gail,  HDFC, L&T, Tata Steel and Maruti are top gainers and Bharti, ITC and BHEl were among the laggards.

02:30pm Brokerages reaction on ITC earnings
FMCG major ITC announced its Q2 numbers that came inline with analysts' expectations. The company's net profit climbed 8.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,425 crore supported by other income and higher revenue .

While analysts say the numbers are on expected lines, Suruchi Jain of Morningstar believes the company should address the cigarette business' fall in profitability.

''The fact that they have started spending more on the FMCG front is bad for the company as that is utter bad use of capital. It has taken the company so long to start showing good results,'' says Jain.

Jain believes the profits could reflect in the profit and loss accounts if the company stopped spending on FMCG.

Naveen Kulkarni, co-head-research, Phillip Capital says the company's hotel and agriculture business EBITDA margins are highly uninspiring.

02:15pm HUL in News
More than 450 workers and their families staged demonstrations outside Hindustan Unilever headquarters in Mumbai on Friday. This protest is called by Hindustan Unilever Employees Federation. The workers are from the Amli and Dapada factories.

The workers are protesting on a whole host of issues including low wages. They claim that the wages received by them are not on par with those received by their peers at Nestle and Colgate. Workers further allege that no compensation was paid after an accident at the company's Kodaikanal factory in 2003.

Workers also say that all efforts to unionise are always met with hostile reaction from the management and alleged the management of creating sponsored unions with whom settlements are reached and these terms of settlements are forced upon the workers. The workers demand that this victimization must stop.

HUL management on its part told CNBC-TV18 that it has always encouraged unions and that it always leaves it upto the workers to decide whether to join a particular union. They say the company is following the due process for discussions with the unions and will continue to engage with the workers to resolve the issue.

02:00pm Market Check
The spectacular rally continued in afternoon trade with the Sensex rising more than 400 points and the Nifty inching towards the 8300-mark supported by banking & financials, oil & gas, technology and capital goods stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 423.86 points or 1.55 percent to 27770.19 and the 50-share Nifty jumped 123.85 points or 1.52 percent to 8293.05. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1747 to 1110 on the BSE.

Christopher Wood, CLSA says India remains by far the most promising stock market story in Asia and emerging markets, and indeed the world, on a five-year view.

Gail India topped the buying list, rising over 7 percent after stellar performance in bottomline. Profit in September quarter more than doubled to Rs 1,303 crore compared to Rs 621.4 crore in previous quarter.

Large buying was seen in blue chip names like HDFC (up 4 percent), L&T (up 3 percent), SBI (up 2 percent), Infosys (up 2 percent), Reliance Industries (up 1.9 percent) and HDFC Bank (up 1.7 percent) while selling was seen in Bharti Airtel post a weak performance in the Africa business. In earnings today, ITC reported a decent quarter with a 9 percent growth in profits to Rs 2,425 crore in second quarter.

The biggest talking point globally is the 5 percent surge in the Japan's Nikkei after the Bank of Japan, in an unexpected move today, expanded the pace of its quantitative easing to 80 trillion yen against 50 trillion earlier. This sent the Japanese yen slumping to a 6-year low versus the dollar.

2:00 pm Results: Utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) reported a 4.3 percent decline in standalone profit at Rs 947 crore for the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 989.5 crore in the year-ago period, impacted by weak operational performance.

The bottomline met street expectations while revenue beat estimates but it missed forecast on operational front. Profit was expected at Rs 946 crore on revenue of Rs 9,292 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Total income from operations (on standalone basis) grew by 6.9 percent to Rs 9,544 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 8,929.6 crore in the same quarter last year.

1:50 pm Metal prices: Prices of nickel and copper moved up by Rs 2 per kg at the local non-ferrous metal market today on increased demand from consuming industries amid a firm global trend.

Traders said sentiments turned better as nickel led most industrial metals higher in global markets after Bank of Japan unexpectedly increased monetary stimulus and before an official gauge of Chinese manufacturing. Meanwhile, nickel for delivery in three months rose 1.3 percent to USD 15,974 a metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

1:40 pm Buzzing: Sky seems to be the limit for Maruti Suzuki . The stock has yet again touched record high at Rs 3332.90 per share, up 3 percent intraday after brokerages increased target price. Investors are betting big on the car marker as it announced stellar September quarter results boosted by strong sales. Maintaining a buy rating, Citi has revised its target to Rs 3785 from Rs 3083 as it believes that strong product line-up driving market share gains and benefits from a depreciating yen will act as positive triggers.

"We increase our multiple from 11x to historical highs as the full impact of new models, recovery in margins due to lower discounts and a re-rating on better cash distribution is not reflected in est. Additionally, lower depreciation should result in strong profit growth in FY17/18E," it said in a note.

1:30 pm  Black money: Amid a debate on disclosure of names of suspected black money holders, Switzerland Thursday said information exchanged under Swiss-India tax treaty cannot be disclosed "in principle" to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a 'specific and relevant' case.

The comments come at a time when a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team is probing alleged stashing of black money by Indians aboard, including Swiss banks.

Switzerland, long accused of being a safe haven for illicit funds, has promised to extend assistance to India and reply to requests for information in a "time-bound" manner on cases of alleged tax evasion and financial crimes, or provide a reason if no information can be shared.

1:20 pm Results: Cigarette-FMCG-hotel major ITC matched street expectations with the second quarter net profit climbing 8.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,425 crore supported by other income and higher revenue. The profit in the year-ago period was Rs 2,230.5 crore. Net sales jumped 14.8 percent (lower than expected) to Rs 8,930 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 7,776 crore in same quarter last year.

Profit was estimated at Rs 2,458 crore on revenue of Rs 9,063 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. 

Left over fire crackers of Diwali are still lighting up Dalal Street with some bumper gains. The Sensex is up 380.34 points or 1 percent at 27726.67 and the Nifty is up 110.75 points or 1.4 percent at 8279.95. About 1732 shares have advanced, 976 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Maruti, L&T, Tata Steel and Hindalco are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bharti Airtel, HUL, ITC and ICICI Bank.

Japan's Nikkei stock average surged to a seven-year high and the yen tumbled to its lowest since early 2008 against the dollar on Friday as the Bank of Japan caught markets flat-footed with its surprise monetary easing decision.

The Bank of Japan surprised global financial markets by expanding its massive monetary easing as economic growth and inflation have not picked up as expected after a sales tax hike in April. The jolt from the BOJ, which had been expected to maintain its level of asset purchases, came as the government signalled its readiness to ramp up spending to boost the economy and as the government pension fund, the world's largest, was set to increase purchases of domestic and foreign stocks.

12:59pm ITC meets profit estimates
Cigarettes to FMCG and hotels major ITC matched street expectations with the second quarter net profit climbing 8.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,425 crore supported by other income and higher revenue. The profit in the year-ago period was Rs 2,230.5 crore.

Net sales jumped 14.8 percent (lower than expected) to Rs 8,930 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 7,776 crore in same quarter last year.

Profit was estimated at Rs 2,458 crore on revenue of Rs 9,063 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

12:50pm Gail India up 1% ahead of earnings
State-run natural gas transmission company Gail India is expected to report a whopping 60 percent growth in second quarter net profit at Rs 995 crore as against Rs 621 crore in previous quarter on strong operational performance, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Net sales are seen going up 10 percent to Rs 14,665 crore from Rs 13,337 crore during the same period. Operating profit (EBITDA) may jump 60 percent sequentially to Rs 1,620 crore and margin may expand 340 basis points to 11 percent in the quarter gone by.

12:40pm Interview
Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company has reported a 9 percent jump in its second quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 99.1 crore against Rs 90.8 crore (Y-o-Y). Consolidated operational income for the quarter increased to Rs 917 crore, up 14.7 percent, against Rs 799.5 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Discussing the earnings, Vellayan Subbiah, MD & ED, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance, said the company expects to see a decline in non-performing loans (NPLs) in the next two quarters.

According to Subbiah, net interest margins have been holding steady, he doesn't expect it to come down at all.

12:30pm Gold Update
Gold prices fell 0.11 percent to Rs 26,775 per 10 grams in futures trade today as speculators indulged in trimming positions amid weak cues from global markets and subdued domestic demand.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in February eased by Rs 30, or 0.11 percent, to Rs 26,775 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 23 lots.

Likewise, the metal for delivery in December shed Rs 23, or 0.09 percent, to Rs 26,580 per 10 grams in 585 lots.

Analysts said a weak trend in overseas markets as the US Federal Reserve ended its asset-purchase programme amid signs of an improving economy, eroding demand for precious metals, put pressure on gold prices at futures trade here.

Besides, a weakening trend at the domestic physical market on slackened demand following end of festive season, weighed on the prices, they said.

Globally, gold lost 1.03 percent to trade USD 1,186.50 an ounce in Singapore today, the lowest since October 6, reports PTI.

12:20pm Union Bank Q2 earnings
Public sector lender Union Bank of India missed street expectations with the second quarter profit rising 78.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 371.3 crore led by lower provisions and higher other income but asset quality deteriorated further.

The boost in profit was also because of low base in the year-ago period as profit in Q2FY14 fell 62 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 208.1 crore on 92 percent jump in provisions.

Profit was expected at Rs 434 crore and net interest income at Rs 2,108 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 6.7 percent to Rs 2,084 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 1,954 crore in same quarter last year.

12:10pm FII View
Christopher Wood, CLSA says as anticipated, the Federal Reserve proceeded with the end of tapering at this week's FOMC meeting. ''The risk of a renewed correction in equities is growing after the big bounce over the past week and more. It is also interesting to note that US high-yield spreads have also contracted from the recent peak,'' he adds.

He further said, ''Greed and fear repeats the point that India remains by far the most promising stock market story in Asia and emerging markets, and indeed the world, on a five-year view.''

12:00pm Market Check
The market remained in uncharted territory as the Nifty scaled past 8,200 on the first day of the November series and the Sensex traded near 27,700 level led by banking and heavyweights (L&T, ITC and Reliance Industries) stocks. Midcaps too gained in line with the frontline indices.

The Sensex shot up 390.96 points or 1.43 percent to 27737.29 and the Nifty climbed 115.60 points or 1.42 percent to 8284.80 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 1 percent each.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1723 to 910 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

IDFC topped the buying list in the Nifty. The results were muted, but that was expected since the company has been transitioning into a bank. It announced the de-merger scheme of the lending business into a step down subsidiary IDFC Bank. Nomura maintains its neutral stance with a target of Rs 140 per share.

In important earnings today, FMCG major ITC gained a percent higher. A CNBC-TV18 poll expects a 16 percent revenue growth while cigarette volumes are expected to remain pressured. Mahindra and Mahindra too gained a percent as analysts expect a 4 percent revenue growth on a standalone basis. NMDC rallied 2.5 percent ahead of its numbers today.

On the global front, Asian markets were strong (following strong US cues) with the Nikkei surging 4.8 percent after the Bank of Japan eased monetary policy. Japanese central bank will raise monetary base target to 80 trillion yen as against 50 trillion yen earlier. The yen slid to a 7-year low.

12:00 pm Market check: The Sensex is up 392.58 points or 1 percent at 27738.91 and the Nifty up 116.60 points or 1.4 percent at 8285.80. About 1702 shares have advanced, 839 shares declined, and 104 shares are unchanged. HDFC, Tata Steel, L&T, Maruti and SBI are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bharti Airtel and HUL.

11:50 am FII view: Christopher Wood, CLSA says as anticipated, the Federal Reserve proceeded with the end of tapering at this week's FOMC meeting. ''The risk of a renewed correction in equities is growing after the big bounce over the past week and more. It is also interesting to note that US high-yield spreads have also contracted from the recent peak,'' he adds.

He further said, ''Greed and fear repeats the point that India remains by far the most promising stock market story in Asia and emerging markets, and indeed the world, on a five-year view.''

11:40 am 2G update: Major trouble is in store for former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK leader Kanimozhi as a special court on Friday framed charges against them along with 17 others in connection with the 2G scam-related money laundering case.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal is also amongst the accused against whom charges have been framed under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

All the 19 accused have plead not guilty and have sought trial in the case.
ED, in its charge sheet, had alleged that the accused were involved in the Rs 200-crore money transaction which was not "bonafide" and "genuine" and it was a "bribe for grant of telecom licences to DB Group companies" by Raja.

11:30 am Result analysis: This is a seasonally weak quarter for telecom companies in India - primarily in terms of pricing improvement - because of the monsoon season, says Suresh Mahadevan of UBS Securities. But Bharti Airtel has clocked in strong data growth, he says. However, realizations dropping and the Africa business was a drag, he adds. But going forward, he believes Africa will start showing better results considering it is more emerging than India and there is no shortage of spectrum there. Also, with the new CEO, he feels Africa can grow mid-to-high single digits in terms of revenue EBITDA.

Mahadevan likes both Bharti and Idea in the telecom space, but prefers Bharti over Idea.

11:20 am Result poll: Cigarettes to FMCG and hotels major ITC 's second quarter profit after tax is expected to rise by 10.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,458 crore, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Profit in the year-ago period was Rs 2,231 crore.

Adjusted profit after tax may jump 17.2 percent to Rs 2,458 crore from Rs 2,098 crore during the same period as there was Rs 193 crore one off in PAT in same quarter last year. Net sales is seen going up 16.6 percent to Rs 9,063 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 7,776 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal driven by strong performance in cigarette, FMCG others and agri segments.

11:10 am Buzzing: Sky seems to be the limit for Maruti Suzuki. The stock has yet again touched record high at Rs 3332.90 per share, up 3 percent intraday on Friday after brokerages increased target price. Investors are betting big on the car marker as it announced stellar September quarter results boosted by strong sales.

Maintaining a buy rating, Citi has revised its target to Rs 3785 from Rs 3083 as it believes that strong product line-up driving market share gains and benefits from a depreciating yen will act as positive triggers.

Bank of America Merill Lynch has also raised target by 8 percent to Rs 3570 on expected re-rating due to liberal payout policy. It expects margins to expand on renewed hedges at better exchange rates, moderation in discounts and operating leverage. However, it has still lowered EBITDA margin assumptions by 20-40 basis points to 12.3-13-13.3 percent over FY15-16-17E.

It's another all time high for the markets. The Nifty scaled past 8200 on the first day of the November series. The 50-share index is up 88.85 points 1 percent at 8258.05. The Sensex is up 301.47 points or 1 percent at 27647.80. About 1602 shares advanced, 681 shares declined and 83 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, SBI and Infosys are top gainers while Bharti Airtel, SBI and ICICI Bank are major laggards in the Sensex.

Oil prices fell in Asia today, pressured by a stronger dollar as dealers speculated over whether the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates sooner than later, analysts said.

Singapore's United Overseas Bank said crude prices faced downward pressure "as expectations that US interest rates may rise sooner than previously thought pushed the dollar to its highest in more than three weeks".

Nikkei is leading Asian markets higher reacting to the Bank of Japan easing monetary policy. The Bank of Japan will expand to 80 trillion yen versus 50 trillion yen earlier.

10:55am Market Check
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 297.82 points or 1.09 percent to 27644.15 and the Nifty jumped 89.10 points or 1.09 percent to 8258.30. About 1595 shares have advanced, 654 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, SBI, ONGC, IDFC and HCL Technologies gained 2-2.5 percent.

10:45am Interview
Hindustan Construction Company  (HCC) reported second quarter standalone net profit at Rs 6.8 crore versus Rs 31.6 crore in the year-ago period. But the previous year's profit figure included a big other income figure of Rs 116 crore, which led to a bottomline profit of Rs 31.6 cr for Q2FY14.

Praveen Sood, CFO of HCC says the company is trying to maintain profitability at these levels. He hopes that the next two quarters will be as good as the last six quarters.

He says the profitability margins are coming from efforts to bring down costs. The company is not seeing any major push on the order inflow side and the good margins reported is despite that. Order inflows from the government side has not picked up yet, says Sood. He expects government order inflows to pick up only from next year.

He says: "Realised Rs 400 crore of claims in the last two quarters which helped push margins." He hopes to realise similar claim amounts in the second half of the year.

HCC has Rs 4,000 crore stuck in arbitration. He expects the government to pay its dues in the next few months.

The company is seeing order inflow momentum only in the road sector as of now. But sectors such as hydro and nuclear power saw no pick up in order inflows. Sood hopes to end year with Rs 14500-15000 crore order book position.

10:30am Market Update

The market remained at record high. The Sensex rose 260.01 points or 0.95 percent to 27606.34 and the Nifty jumped 77.60 points or 0.95 percent to 8246.80.

About 1537 shares have advanced, 595 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged.

Titan Company, Tech Mahindra, IDFC, SBI, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Shriram Transport were the most active shares on exchanges.

In the midcap space, Relaxo Footwear, Gujarat Pipavav, Sintex Industries, HCC and SKS Microfinance jumped 5-6 percent while SRF, Responsive Industries, eClerx Services, Hindustan National Glass and FAG Bearings lost 2-4 percent.

10:15am Market Expert

There is a confluence of positives in India right now and that's the reason things are turning constructive for the Indian market, says Dipen Sheth of HDFC Securities.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sheth says the Nifty is currently in a multi-year, multi-themed, multi-faceted bull run.

On his sectoral prefences, Sheth says he likes special restautants and great fine-dining franchises. He also believes the midcap space has a lot of talented companies that can be invested into right now.

10:00am Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to trade around their record highs with the Sensex rising 235.50 points to 27581.83 and the Nifty climbing 68.20 points to 8237.40 following strong US cues.

The broader markets too gained momentum with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices adding 1 percent each. About three shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Technical Analysts Rajat Bose is bullish on the Indian market. He says that Nifty is in an uptrend and it could touch 8,250-8,300 going ahead. He recommends market participants to buy on dips.

Major largecaps like Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC, ITC, HDFC Bank, TCS, Larsen and Toubro, ONGC, State Bank of India and Axis Bank gained 1-1.6 percent.

Hero Motocorp, Tata Steel, Wipro, Tata Power, Dr Reddy's Labs, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite too climbed 1-1.6 percent.

However, Bharti Airtel (post Q2 earnings), Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank and Hindalco Industries were only losers in the Sensex.

9:50 am Result poll: Utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), which will announce its second quarter earnings on Friday, is expected to report a profit of Rs 946 crore as against Rs 989.5 crore in the year-ago period, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Revenue is likely to be Rs 9,292 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 8,929.5 crore in same quarter last year. Operating profit expected to be at Rs 1,167 crore as against Rs 1,144 crore and margin may be at 12.5 percent compared to 12.8 percent during the same period.

Results are not comparable on year-on-year basis due to merger of loss making truck business. The company will provide the merged entity comparable numbers in the press release as they do every quarter.

9:40 am Nomura report: The government's austerity drive announced today , would lead to a saving of up to Rs 40,000 crore or 0.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but poses risks to growth, Japanese brokerage Nomura has said. "On our estimates this would amount to a saving of Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 crore or 0.3 percent of the GDP," it said in a note issued here today. The finance ministry issued a circular today instructing government departments to cut discretionary spending by 10 percent. As part of these measures, it banned first class travel by government officials, meetings in five-star hotels, purchase of cars and froze new appointments.

Nomura said that the move may have been initiated as a precaution against potential shortfall in capital receipts, mainly disinvestment proceeds, where the government target is to raise 0.5 percent of GDP or over Rs 43,000 crore.

9:30 am Marlet outlook: India has been one of the biggest outperformer among the emerging market basket and its macros are seeing a sudden improvement, says Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities. And it is this positivity that makes Prasad confident of India logging in 7 percent growth in 2017. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Prasad says the new government has unleashed a lot of bold economic reforms in the past few days. ''I expect the interest rates to come down sooner than is expected and India continues to grow fast,'' he adds. On sectoral preferences, Prasad is bullish on private banks and autos and picks Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp as his best bets.

9:20 am Winners & losers: IT stocks are still leading the rally with Infosys, TCS and Wipro as major gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bharti Airtel, HUL, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and NTPC.

The market starts November series on a stellar note. The Nifty hit 8200 for the first time, up 32.15 points while the Sensex is up 92.73 points at 27439.06. About 499 shares have advanced, 91 shares declined, and 15 shares are unchanged.

Bhart Airtel, Infosys, ONGC, Cipla and Maruti are top gainers while Hindalco, HUL and Tata Motors are among the losers.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 61.39 per dollar versus 61.45 Thursday.

The dollar held at four-week highs against a basket of major currencies, getting another boost from encouraging growth data a day after the Federal Reserve gave an upbeat assessment on the economy.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "The positive sentiment in the equity market may support the currency. The rupee is expected to trade positively, though month-end dollar demand from oil importers will keep it under pressure. See the range for rupee between Rs 60.90-61.90/dollar."

Asian stocks rose on the final trading day of the week following positive US data overnight, with focus on developments in Japan.

US stocks jumped on Thursday with the Dow leading gains by over 1 percent following strong data releases. Third-quarter gross-domestic product (GDP) rose 3.5 percent, beating expectations, while a separate report showed that the underlying trend for first time weekly jobless claims is at its lowest level since 2000.

Brent crude was marginally lower as traders saw little chance of OPEC cutting output at its November meeting. From precious metals space, gold traded around USD 1200 an ounce its lowest level in nearly 4 weeks.