Indian stock markets rose for a seventh straight session on Friday, their longest winning streak since November 2017. The gains came on the back of gains in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.

Sentiment was also upbeat after retail inflation eased to a five-month low in March, supporting views that monetary policy is likely to remain unchanged at the next review in early June.

At the closing bell, the Sensex ended up by 92 points and the Nifty up 22 points. Adani Ports, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers, while SBI, Axis Bank, BPCL and Bajaj Finserv lost the most.

Meanwhile, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Pidilite Industries, and Tech Mahindra had hit at 52 week highs on Friday.

Top Stocks in Focus

Tata Steel share price will be in focus after it reported fourth-quarter India sales at 3.01 million tons versus 3.21 million tons in the year-ago period. The company said its India production stood at 3.07 million tons, down from 3.20 million tons a year ago.

Another stock that will be in focus is HDFC bank. The bank has proposed to raise up to Rs 500 billion by issuing perpetual debt instruments, Tier II capital bonds and long term bond in the period of next twelve months through private placement mode.

In a setback for Ultratech cement, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to allow out-of-court settlement for Binani Cement bankruptcy case.

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has bagged three out of five packages of Mumbai Metro Line-4 with total bid value around Rs 15.8 billion.

Reliance Industries share price will hog limelight as it has entered into agreements to acquire close to 73% stake in education technology provider Indiavidual Learning Pvt. Ltd (Embibe) and will invest US$180 million into the company over the next three years.

Ashok Leyland Ltd has won an order worth Rs 1 billion from the ministry of defence for supplying high mobility 10x10 vehicles.

Earnings Season Kicks Off

Market participants now await January-March corporate results for future direction. IT Major Infosys kick-started the March-quarter results season on Friday. The stock will be in focus today.

Infosys, on Friday reported a 28% sequential fall in net profit to Rs 36.9 billion in the Q4FY18, in line with street expectations.

The company forecasted its annual constant currency revenue for FY19 to grow by 6-8%.

The company reported revenue of Rs 180.8 billion for the quarter ended March, compared with Rs 177.9 billion reported in the December quarter.

Global Stock Market Drivers

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday as Chinese trade data proved to be a mixed bag and investors awaited earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co later in the day for direction.

China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 21 points or 0.7% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was marginally lower in late trade.

IPO Buzz

Real estate firm Shriram Properties Pvt. Ltd is planning to raise around Rs 10 billion from an initial public offering (IPO) and enter the low-cost housing segment with homes in the Rs 1.5-2.5 million price range.

In 2017-18, a tough year for most developers, Shriram Properties sold 1,204 homes in Bengaluru, its core market, and 555 in Chennai. In 2018-19, it expects to sell almost double the number of units. Shriram Properties has four large investors at the company level-Walton Street Capital LLC, Starwood Capital Group, Tata Capital Ltd and TPG Capital.

The Shriram Properties IPO would generate liquidity for these investors as well as potential exits.