Indian share markets rose on Thursday, driven by IT stocks such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services on the back of a weak rupee.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 34,663, up 318 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,514, up 84 points.

The rupee has weakened by more than 7% so far this year, hitting its lowest since December 2016 at 68.46 per dollar on Wednesday, as surging crude oil prices weigh on India, raising fears that soaring costs could drive up inflation and widen the trade deficit.

Top Stocks in Focus

ONGC share price will hog limelight today on the news that the government may levy a windfall tax on oil producers.

Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has received an approval for formation of Joint Venture Company (JVC) between Indian Oil, GAIL (India), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Numaligarh Refinery and Oil India with 20% equity holding by each company for development of the Natural Gas Pipeline Grid in the North East connecting Guwahati to other major cities in the North East. The stock will be in focus.

V-Mart Retail share price will be in focus as company reported 148% jump in its Q4FY18 net profit at Rs 159 million versus Rs 64 million in same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, GAIL has registered nearly 300% jump in its Q4 net profit at Rs 10.21 billion against Rs 2.6 billion in the same quarter last fiscal.

Peninsula Land reported a net loss of Rs 2 billion for the quarter ended 31 March 2018 as compared to a net loss of Rs 1.2 billion for the same quarter in the previous year.

Results Corner

Bank of Baroda, Cadila Healthcare, Jindal Saw, IDBI Bank, PC Jeweller, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma are among few companies that will report its fourth quarter results today.

Global Stock Market Drivers

European stocks climbed and US futures were steady as a dose of calm returned to markets on Thursday, though concerns surrounding global trade were not far away. The yield on 10-year Treasuries edged back above 3%, while the euro and pound gained.

It's been a torrid week across markets so far, with market participants forced to navigate escalating geopolitical and trade risks, from Trump's decision to back away from an agreement with China to North Korea warning of a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown".

Here's a look at some potential focal points for the day:

• Today, European Union finance ministers will discuss the latest on Brexit talks, in Brussels.
• Bank of England Markets Forum will be held today at Bloomberg London. Speakers include BOE Governor Mark Carney and New York Fed President William Dudley.

Bulk & Block Deals

Avenue Supermarts share price moved higher by 6% to Rs 1,437 on the BSE in noon deal trade on Thursday, after nearly 1% or 5 million equity shares of the company changed hands through multiple block deals.

The company informed the stock exchanges that promoter Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani would pare his stake to comply with the shareholding norms.

IPO Buzz

Women's apparel maker TCNS Clothing Company has received market regulator's go-ahead to float an initial public offering. TCNS sells its products under W, Aurelia and Wishful brands.

Meanwhile, Shakun Polymers has filed draft papers with capital markets regulator. Shakun is a leading player in the field of compounds for the wire and cable market. It has two manufacturing facilities at Halol district in Gujarat and one at Daman, having a total installed capacity of over 25,000 metric tonnes per annum.

With this, the total number of companies receiving approval has reached 16 so far this year.

From the Commodities Space

In commodities markets, US crude was down 0.3% at US$71.63 a barrel.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after an unexpected rise in US crude and gasoline inventories. Brent futures were 0.4% lower at US$79.50 a barrel, continuing to move lower after rising above US$80 last week for the first time since November 2014 last week.