Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are slated to open sharply lower on Monday, following weak cues from Asian peers as rate hike concerns triggered broad-based selling across global equities. The negative trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-down opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 246 points, or 1.43%, lower at 16,934 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 7:55 AM.
Last week, the domestic equities ended lower for the second straight time as the fear of an aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve and disappointing corporate earnings dented market sentiments. The 30-share Sensex tumbled 1,142 points, or 1.96%, to 57,197 last week, while the 50-share Nifty fell 304 points, or 1.74%, to 17,172 during the same period. Eight of the top-10 most valued firms together lost ₹2.22 lakh crore from their market valuation last week, with Infosys and HDFC Bank suffering the most. Barring Reliance Industries and Adani Green Energy, all heavyweights in the top-10 pack saw a drop in their market valuation. The top losers on the BSE Sensex pack were Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, HDFC, and Bajaj Finserv, while Coal India, RIL, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, and Eicher Motors were among the top performers.
Stocks to focus
ICICI Bank: The private sector lender on Saturday reported a 59.4% year-on-year growth in net profit to ₹7,018.7 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022. The net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose 21% YoY to ₹12,605 crore, while other income grew by 15% from a year ago to ₹4,737 crore. The bank's board has also approved a dividend of ₹5 per share for the shareholders.
Future Retail, Reliance Industries: RIL’s retail arm, Reliance Retail has dropped plan to buy Future Group’s businesses after lenders to the Kishore Biyani-led company voted against the deal.
HDFC Bank: The bank on Saturday declared a dividend of ₹15.50 per equity share of ₹1 (1550%) for the year ended March 31, 2022.
Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL): The NBFC on Sunday said it has paid ₹5.41 crore to market regulator Sebi to settle its past cases.
Future Enterprise Ltd (FEL): The debt-laden company has defaulted on repayment of ₹2,911.51 crore of loans to its lenders, missing 30 days of review period. The Future group company was required to pay the amount between March 23 and March 31, 2022, to various consortium banks and lenders.
Torrent Power: The company has inked a deal to acquire 100% equity in a 50 MW solar plant of SkyPower Group at an enterprise value of ₹417 crore.
Aurobindo Pharma, Sun Pharma and Jubilant: These pharma companies are recalling different products in the U.S. market for various reasons, as per the latest enforcement report by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC): State-owned oil and gas major has commissioned two projects costing ₹6,000 crore to add 7.5 million tonnes of oil production and 1 billion cubic meters of gas output over the life of the Mumbai High fields.
Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:
Wall Street falls on rate hike concerns
On Wall Street, all three major U.S. indices closed lower on Friday amid increased certainty about the aggressive policy stance by the Federal Reserve in the coming months. The weak corporate earnings and persistent concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war also spooked investors’ sentiments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 2.82%, notching its biggest one-day fall since October 2020, while the S&P 500 dropped 2.77%. In a similar trend, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.55%.
Asian stocks open lower
Shares in the Asia-Pacific region opened lower in Monday, tracking a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday. The fear of hawkish policy stance by the U.S. Federal Reserve and China's cautious economic policy response to Covid-19 lockdown dented market sentiments.
Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 dropped 1.9%, South Korea’s KOSPI dived 1.6%, and the Straits Times Index in Singapore fell 0.6%.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong emerged as the worst performer in the regional market by falling 2.7%, followed by Taiwan’s Weighted index tumbled 2.5%.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component and the Shanghai Composite plunged 2.85% and 2.1%, respectively, in early trade.
Oil prices extend fall on bleak demand
The price of Brent and U.S. crude oil retreated further on Monday amid bleak demand prospects as Chinese energy consumption dropped due to the lockdown in Shanghai. In Asian trading hours on Monday, the Brent oil for July delivery dropped 2.76% at $103.22 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slumped 2.76% to $99.26 a barrel.
On Friday, Brent fell 2% to $106.16 a barrel, while US WTI crude dipped 2.03% to $101.69 a barrel.
Meanwhile, oil retailers have kept petrol and diesel prices unchanged for the nineteenth straight day on Monday, after several hikes in more than one month. The domestic oil companies have raised fuel rates by ₹10 per litre since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22, when the results of five Assembly polls were announced.
Oil import bill doubles to $119 bn in FY22
India's crude oil import bill nearly doubled to $119 billion in the fiscal year 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022), from $62.2 billion in the previous fiscal year, due to a record rise in crude prices amid sanctions on Russian oil imports in wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
FIIs remain net sellers, DIIs net buyers
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian equity market on April 22, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to support the market. As per the exchange data, FIIs sold shares worth ₹2,461.72 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹1,602.35 crore.
FPIs withdraws ₹12,300 cr in April
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out around ₹12,300 crore from the Indian share market so far this month as investors weighed aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve and concerns about geopolitical tension in eastern Europe.
Corporate earnings
The companies that are slated to release their earnings numbers today include Arihant Capital Markets, Artson Engineering, Automotive Stampings & Assemblies, Axita Cotton, Century Textiles & Industries, Divyashakti, Eveready Industries India, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Mahindra CIE Automotive. Among others, Meghmani Finechem, Maharashtra Scooters, Snowman Logistics, Steel Exchange India, Sylph Technologies, Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem, Tata Investment Corporation, Triveni Enterprises, and VTM, will also unveil their March quarter earnings.
