Sensex, Nifty to open higher; LIC, Max Healthcare, BPCL, Hero, ONGC, SBI shares eyed

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to bell the day in positive terrain on Tuesday, tracking strong cues from global equities. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading higher, following a strong finish on Wall Street overnight as easing concerns about rate hikes boosted investors’ appetite for riskier assets. Back home, the bullish trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 60 points, or 0.34%, higher at 17,845 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM. Investors will also react to retail inflation and industrial production numbers which were released post-market hours on Friday. The consumer price index (CPI) eased marginally to 6.71% in July, but stayed well above the Reserve Bank of India's threshold limit of 4-6% for the seventh consecutive month. Meanwhile, the index of industrial production (IIP) grew 12.3% in June compared to 19.6% in May.

The domestic bourses closed higher in range-bound trade on Friday, extending gains for a fourth consecutive week and registering the longest winning momentum since January. The BSE Sensex rose by 1,074 points during the week ended August 12, and the Nifty added 300 points on a weekly basis as the market sentiment was lifted by the U.S. inflation data, which fell marginally in July and eased concerns about Federal Reserve's aggressive policy stance in near-term future. The sustained foreign capital inflows and decline in international crude prices also supported the domestic equities. On Friday, the 30-share Sensex ended 130 points, or 0.22%, higher at 59,463, with 13 of its constituents ending in the green. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 39 points, or 0.22%, to settle at 17,698.

Stocks to watch

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala portfolio stocks: Shares of Jhunjhunwala-backed shares such as Titan, Tata Motors, Star Health, Metro Brands, and others will be in focus after the sudden demise of the big bull on August 14. As per the latest shareholding pattern, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and associates publicly owned 32 stocks with a net worth of over ₹31,904.8 crore as of July 2022.

BPCL: The state-owned oil company will invest ₹1.4 lakh crore in petrochemicals, city gas, and clean energy in the next five years as it looks to non-fuel businesses for growth.

Max Healthcare: U.S.-based private equity major KKR and Co to offload up to 26% stake in Max Healthcare Institute for ₹9,416 crore via block deals on Tuesday. The floor price for the stake sale has been fixed at ₹350 to ₹362 a share, a discount of up to 3.3% on its Friday closing.

State Bank of India (SBI): The country’s largest lender has raised its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 20 basis points (bps) across tenors from August 15. The decision was taken after the Reserve Bank raised benchmark policy rates by 50 bps earlier this month to combat headline inflation.

Mahindra & Mahindra: The homegrown auto major on Monday opened its new design centre of excellence, Mahindra Advanced Design Europe (M.A.D.E) in the United Kingdom, "which will serve as the conceptual hotbed for the company’s portfolio of EV products".

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India: The insurance behemoth has reported a multifold jump in its June quarter net profit at ₹682.89 crore, compared to ₹2.94 crore in the same period last year. On the sequential basis, the state-owned insurer’s net profit dropped from ₹2,371 crore in March quarter of 2022. The total income stood at ₹1,68,881 crore in Q1 FY22, versus ₹1,54,153 crore in the year-ago period and ₹2,11,451 crore in the March quarter.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises: The media company has posted a 48.94% fall in consolidated net profit at ₹106.60 crore for June quarter of 2022, as against ₹208.78 crore in April-June period a year ago. Total income during the quarter under review was ₹1,879.53 crore against ₹1,808.56 crore in the year-ago period.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC): The oil and gas producer saw its profit surging by three times to ₹15,205.85 crore in Q1 FY23, compared to ₹4,334.75 crore in the same period a year back. The profit was boosted by higher price realisation before the government imposed a tax on windfall profits arising from a global rally in energy rates.

Future Consumer Ltd (FCL): The crisis-hit company saw its consolidated net loss widening to ₹95.14 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to a loss of ₹31.54 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago. The total income dropped 65.12% to ₹109.77 crore during the period under review as against ₹314.73 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Hero MotoCorp: The country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer reported a year-on-year (YoY) rise of 71% in net profit during the April-June quarter on higher sales and last year’s low base. The net profit of Pawan Munjal-led firm rose to ₹625 crore from ₹365.44 crore in the same quarter a year ago, while it dropped marginally as compared to ₹627 crore in March quarter of 2022. Revenue from operations jumped to ₹83,932.54 crore, as against ₹5,487.07 crore in the year-ago period.

One97 Communications: The company, which operates under the Paytm brand, said that its loan distribution business reached an annual run rate of ₹25,000 crore in July, from ₹24,000 crore last month. The gross merchandise value on Paytm climbed 82% to ₹1.06 lakh crore in July 2022, from ₹58,000 crore in the same period last year.

Tata Chemicals, Balrampur Chini Mills, and Delta Corp: These three companies will be under F&O ban list on August 16.

Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:

Wall Street ends higher

In the overnight trade, the U.S. stocks closed higher amid signs that inflation may have peaked in July, raising hopes for less aggressive rate hike by the Federal Reserve going ahead. The S&P 500 index ended 0.4% lower, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also added 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composites settled 0.6% higher, led by tech majors Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp.

Asian shares rise

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly higher in early trade on Tuesday, following a positive finish on Wall Street overnight. However, renewed concerns about China’s economic outlook limited markets’ gain.

In the early trade, regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading flat with marginal loss, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4%, and Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.6%.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was trading 0.5% higher, the Taiwan Weighted index added 0.1%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite climbed 0.65%.

Bucking the trend, the Straits Times in Singapore was trading 0.2% lower. Markets in mainland China were trading higher, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component rising 0.5% each.

FIIs remain net buyers, DIIs net sellers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their gaining streak in the Indian equity market on August 12, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net sellers. As per the exchange data, FIIs net purchased shares worth ₹3,040.46 crore, while DIIs net sold shares worth ₹839.45 crore.