Today about 60 exchange listed companies are set to announce the first quarter earnings for the FY 2018. The blue chip companies which are lined up with their Q1 earnings on Friday are the oil marketer and refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and India’s third-largest automaker Mahindra & Mahindra. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are trading higher at Rs 399.35 (up 0.52%), while Mahindra & Mahindra trading down at Rs 1,406.25 (down 0.75%).

Other major stocks which are mostly trading lower ahead of the Q1 results are Apollo Tyres trading down 1.2% at Rs 267.65, Berger Paints trading down 1.24% at Rs 243,85, Dabur India trading down 0.67% at Rs 303.6, Fortis Healthcare trading up 0.09% at Rs 163.85, Indian Hotels down 0.32% at Rs 126.1, EID Parry India trading up 1.38% at Rs 334.55, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited trading down 1.17% at Rs 135.2 and Andhra Bank shares were flat at Rs 55.

Indian stock markets opened in negative territory on Friday, slipped further within minutes of trading following the yesterday’s slump after the RBI’s repo rate cut. BSE Sensex opened 46 points down at 32,191.12 points and NSE Nifty opened 5 points lower at 10,008.6 points. Meanwhile, Asian stocks inched up on Friday morning after technology shares dropped on Wall Street.

The rupee appreciated by 9 paise to 63.6 against the US dollar today on continued foreign capital inflows. On Thursday rate sensitive stocks like banking, realty and auto continued their fall for the second straight session, plunging by up to 9% after the RBI policy announcement failed to enthuse investors.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Thursday, weighed down by Amazon.com, Apple and other top-shelf technology stocks, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up to a seventh straight record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.04 percent, or 9.86 points, to end at 22,026.1, an all-time high. On Wednesday, the Dow rose above 22,000 for the first time.