Asian stock markets are higher today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.05% while the Hang Seng is up 0.49%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.04%. Meanwhile, The Dow Jones industrial average rose to an all-time high on Thursday as investors bet economic growth would pick up steam.

Back home, India share markets opened the day on a strong note. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 110 points while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 37 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened the day up by 0.4% & 0.6% respectively.

All sectoral indices have opened the day in green with metal stocks and energy stocks witnessing maximum buying interest. The rupee is trading at 63.74 to the US$.

2017. What a year this has been for equity investors. The BSE Sensex is trading close to 34,000 mark. The Nifty is trading above 10,500 levels.

India was among the three emerging markets, which gained more than 35% in dollar terms. The other two are Hungary and South Korea.

India Outperforms Emerging Market Peers in 2017

The BSE Sensex earned a 35.1% return in the dollar terms and 28% in the local currency in 2017. However, this wasn’t enough to beat the midcap and smallcap indices. The midcap and smallcap indices saw a sharp increase of 47% and 58% respectively in 2017.

TCS share price fell 1.2% in the opening trade after the company posted December quarter revenue growth that fell short of already downbeat Street expectations, as it battled headwinds in the US and soft demand from financial services clients. TCS net profit fell 3.6% to Rs 65.3 billion in the December 2017 quarter as compared to Rs 67.8 billion in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal.

Bank stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with Bank of India and SBI being the most active stocks in this space. At a time when rating agencies have flagged concerns over the rising delinquencies in the affordable housingsegment, State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday said it plans to raise Rs 200 billion through long term bonds to fund affordable housing.