Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are expected to open flat to higher on Thursday, following mixed cues from global peers as investors weighed monetary tightening by central banks, lockdown in China and Russia -Ukraine war. The market may see some volatility as investors will rollover their position on the last day of April futures & options expiry. The muted trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a tepid start for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 15 points, or 0.09%, higher at 17,065 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM.
On Wednesday, the domestic equities closed 1% lower, following weak cues from global peers as well as profit booking in banking, financial, and IT stocks. The BSE Sensex dropped 537 points or 0.94% to settle at 56,819, and the NSE Nifty fell 162 points or 0.94% to 17,038. The top losers on the BSE Sensex pack were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserve, ICICI Bank, SBI, Infosys, Wipro, Titan, and Dr Reddy’s. Among BSE sectoral indices, power was the worst performer, followed by utilities, telecom, finance, and oil and gas space.
Stocks to watch
Reliance Industries: Reliance and Viacom18 have announced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, which is a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, to form one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL): FMCG major has reported a standalone net profit of ₹2,327 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022, growing at 9% on a year-on-year basis against ₹2,143 profit during the same period last year. The turnover grew 10% with flat underlying volume growth at ₹13,190 crore compared to ₹11,947 crore during Q4 FY21.
Bajaj Auto: The auto major has reported 10% YoY growth in net profit at Rs 1,469 crore for the March quarter of 2022, from Rs 1,332 crore in the same period last year. However, revenue from operations declined 10% YoY to Rs 7,975 crore against Rs 8,596 crore in Q4 FY21.
Maruti Suzuki: The country’s largest car maker has teamed up with Indian Bank to provide easy loan services to customers. The company's customers can avail the loan benefits in over 5,700 plus branches of Indian Bank at metro, urban, semi-urban and rural locations.
BPCL, HPCL: The state-run oil companies have secured two licenses each for retailing CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the latest bids for city gas licences in five areas in states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
TVS Motor Company: The auto major has signed a strategic partnership with mobility platform, Rapido, to collaborate by leveraging synergies of their respective businesses in the fast-moving mobility market in India.
Bharti Airtel: The telecom major has acquired around 7% stake in cloud-based networking solutions provider Cnergee Technologies under the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program at an undisclosed amount.
JSW Steel: The steel major will set up ₹150 crore project in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.
Indian Hotels Co (IHCL): The Tata group hospitality firm turned profitable in March quarter of 2022 by posting a consolidated net profit of ₹71.57 crore against a consolidated net loss of ₹97.72 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. The consolidated revenue surged to ₹872.08 crore, from ₹615.02 crore in the year-ago period.
Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL): Billionaire Gautam Adani-led company on Wednesday announced incorporation of its subsidiary AMG Media Networks, which will start its business operations in due course. The company has been set up with an initial authorised and paid-up share capital of ₹1,00,000 each to carry on the business of media related activities.
Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:
Wall Street rises on earnings boost
In the overnight trade, the major U.S. indices closed mostly higher in volatile session as market sentiments were boosted by strong earnings report by Microsoft and Visa. However, concerns about slowing economic growth globally and a more aggressive monetary policy stance by the Federal Reserve kept investors on edge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.19%, the S&P 500 added 0.21%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended marginally lower by 0.01%.
Asian stocks rise ahead of BoJ’s policy decision
Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly higher in early deals on Thursday ahead of the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy decision. However, fear of hawkish policy stance by the U.S. Federal Reserve and China's cautious economic policy response to Covid-19 lockdown limited market’s gain.
Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 rose 0.6%, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.55%, and the Straits Times Index in Singapore added 0.1%.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.7%, Taiwan’s Weighted index climbed 0.5%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite surged 0.66%.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% each in early trade.
Oil prices retreat
The international crude oil prices cooled on Thursday as U.S. crude inventory rose, while bleak demand prospects in wake of the coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai also dented sentiments. In Asian trading hours on Thursday, the Brent oil for July delivery dropped 1.47% to $103.41 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 1.24% to $100.75 a barrel.
In the overnight trade, Brent and US WTI crude ended marginally lower at $104.95 and $101.45 a barrel, respectively.
Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices remained steady for the 22 straight days on Thursday, after several hikes in more than one month. The oil retailers 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.
FIIs remain net sellers, DIIs net buyers
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian equity market on April 27, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to support the market. As per the exchange data, FIIs sold shares worth ₹4,064.54 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹1,917.51 crore.
Corporate earnings
The big companies that are slated to release their earnings numbers today include Axis Bank, Ambuja Cements, SBI Life Insurance Company, Vedanta, Biocon, and Bajaj Finserv. Among others, Agro Tech Foods, Coromandel International, Embassy Office Parks REIT, Fineotex Chemical, IIFL Finance, IndiaMART InterMESH, Laurus Labs, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Mphasis, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care, PNB Housing Finance, Shoppers Stop, Shriram Transport Finance, Sterlite Technologies, and Varun Beverages, will also unveil their March quarter earnings.
