ITC will be in focus after it reported a 15 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,118.8 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021.
The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher as indicated by the Nifty Futures traded on Singapore Exchange amid mixed global cues Japan's Nikkei fell 0.03 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI 0.9 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.4 per cent.
Overnight, Global equity markets slumped lower on Thursday while gold prices steadied and the dollar weakened as frightened investors digested disappointing updates from major central banks about the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
The European Central Bank and the Bank of England soured investor sentiment around inflation on Thursday, while a downbeat status update from the firm formerly known as Facebook further spooked traders.
On Wall Street, Facebook-owner Meta Platforms' dour forecast sent its stock plummeting, abruptly ending a nascent recovery built on upbeat earnings from big tech companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 1.5 per cent, the S&P 500 index shed more than 2 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 3 per cent, news agency Reuters reported.
Back home, ITC will be in focus after it reported a 15 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,118.8 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, on the back of robust demand across business verticals.
The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,587.2 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, ITC Ltd said in a regulatory filing.
Its consolidated total income stood at Rs 18,787.72 crore as against Rs 14,670.17 crore in the year-ago quarter, it added.