Indian shares posted their third weekly rise on Friday, helped by stable world markets and strong macro economic data, coupled with easing inflation.
On Friday, the Sensex closed 0.27 percent or 91.52 points higher at 34,192.65 points, its highest close since 28 February. The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty ended 0.21 percent or 21.95 points higher at 10,480.60 points, its highest close since 27 February.
Risk appetite got a boost after factory output grew at a robust 7.1 percent in February, while retail inflation decelerated for the fourth consecutive month to 4.28 percent in March, building optimism that the the economy may be on a sustained recovery path.
Going ahead, the quarterly report card of Indian companies is expected to provide cues to the market.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 Index fell 0.3 percent to 2,656.30, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 123 points, or 0.5 percent as political and trade tensions continued to weigh on the market.
The investors are focusing on political turmoil surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump, potential military activity in Syria and trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump expressed optimism on trade deal with China and hinted that the U.S. may rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal.
Back home on the currency front, the Indian rupee on Friday closed marginally higher against U.S. dollar, tracking gains in the local equity market.
The partially convertible rupee closed at 65.22 against U.S. dollar, up 0.06 percent from its Thursday's close of 65.26.
So far this year, the rupee has fallen 2 percent, while foreign investors have bought $1.92 billion and $504.60 million in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Here's what to watch in the coming days.
Infosys
Shares of software major Infosys will react to its fourth-quarter results declared after market hours on Friday.
Infosys posted inline results on Friday, but lowered its operating margin band to 22-24 percent for 2018-19. Net profit declined 28.2 percent to $571 million in the March quarter, from $796 million in October-December.
Earnings
ACC will declare its first-quarter results on Wednesday. IndusInd Bank and Tata Consultancy Services will announce their fourth-quarter results on Thursday.
In the U.S., Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will unveil results. Netflix, CSX, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and Honeywell are among the other companies slated to report results next week.
Macro data
On macro front, the government will announce inflation data based on wholesale price index (WPI) for March on Monday. Wholesale prices rose by 2.48 percent year-on-year in February 2018, after a 2.84 percent increase in the prior month.
Global cues
On the global front, China will announce first-quarter GDP annual growth rate on Tuesday. Japanese industrial production data for February will be declared on Tuesday while inflation data for March will be announced on Friday.
Fed ahead
Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic, San Francisco president John Williams, Fed governor Randal Quarles, New York Fed president Bill Dudley and Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester — all monetary policy-setting members of the Federal Open Market Committee — will be speaking next week.
The Fed also releases its Beige Book, a collection of anecdotal evidence on the health of the US economy across its 12 regional districts.
