Today Stocks Market Overview & Japan Nikkei & Kospi Market Open High Points

Nifty Market

             The market extended its rally after Moody's upgraded India's outlook to positive from stable. The Sensex climbed 161.63 points to 28869.38 and the Nifty jumped 41.80 points to 8756.20. FMCG, technology, auto, oil and select banks stocks gained while healthcare stocks fell. About 488 shares have advanced, 58 shares declined, and 79 shares are unchanged on the BSE. According to him, the USD-INR is expected to trade in a range of 62.05-62.45/dollar. Alcoa reported quarterly earnings that beat analysts' expectations, but its revenue fell slightly short. The company, which is in the midst of a major business transformation push, reported adjusted first-quarter earnings per share of 28 cents on revenue of USD 5.82 billion. Analysts had expected Alcoa to report earnings of 26 cents per share on USD 5.94 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

              In an interview with CNBC-TV18, independent market expert Ambareesh Baliga said that the Nifty may to top out in that. “Given the kind of movements we have seen, with stocks rising 70-80-100 percent, it appears that the Nifty may top out”.

               Shares in Hong Kong and Tokyo outperform the region to scale fresh multi-year highs early Thursday. Other parts of Asia saw relatively muted gains as a near 7 percent slide in oil prices tapered the impact of an inspiring lead from Wall Street overnight. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday as the mostly dovish minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting helped markets overcome the impact of plunging energy prices. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed the other major indices, closing up 0.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 settled 0.3 percent higher.

Japan Nikkei, Kospi & ASX Market Overview: - Japan's Nikkei 225 clinched a fresh high of 19,916 points - its highest level since June 2000. Helping to prop up the bourse was index heavyweight Fast Retailing, which elevated nearly 2 percent. Other top performers include Japan Airlines, which rose 1.4 percent as fuel prices headed south, as well as Rakuten, which jumped 2.1 percent.

              The Hang Seng index climbed 3.8 percent to its highest level since May 2008 in the previous session, boosted by strong buying from Chinese investors who used up the entire 10.5 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) daily investment quota in a cross-border program for the first time. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies soared 4.4 percent, hitting a four-year high.

              South Korea's Kospi index stayed at a more than 5-month high as the Bank of Korea (BOK) kept interest rates steady at 1.75 percent as expected. Energy plays were significantly lower; GS Holdings sagged 2.8 percent, while SK Innovation and S-Oil shed below 1 percent each.

              Australia's S&P ASX 200 index ticked down by mid-morning trade as the resources sector came under pressure.