The Indian equity market started the Friday’s trading session on a flat note, amid mixed global cues. At opening, Sensex was down 136.55 points or 0.21% at 66,130.27, and the Nifty was down 35.10 points or 0.18% at 19,624.80.

Dr Reddy's Labs, Britannia Industries, M&M, Apollo Hospitals and Divis Labs were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were BPCL, Axis Bank, ONGC, Hindalco Industries and Sun Pharma. 

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Earnings reports and global cues are expected to dictate the market direction, as per experts. Domestic markets ended lower tracking losses in consumer durables offset by gains in capital goods.

The market had closed in negative yesterday on Thursday. The Sensex was down 440.38 points or 0.66 percent at 66,266.82, and the Nifty was down 118.40 points or 0.60 percent at 19,659.90.

The Indian Rupee also opened 33 paise lower at 82.27 per dollar, mainly due to the overall strength of the greenback. The domestic currency ended 7 paise higher against the US dollar against previous close of 81.94.

Top stocks to watch out today —

ITC

The conglomerate said that its Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) will rise by 18-20% and its return on invested capital (ROIC) by 10% via hotel business demerger.

Ajanta Pharma

The pharma company reported a margin at 26.6% this year as compared to 23.3% last year, EBITDA also rose by 22% year-on-year.

Macrotech

The company reported a 30% up in its pre-sales year-on-year and target pre-sales of Rs 14,500 crore in FY24.

JK Lakshmi

The shares of JK Lakshmi to remain in spotlight today as it reported its Q1 standalone results below estimated number. Its net profit also declined by 26% year-on-year.