Sensex, Nifty to open higher; RIL, TCS, ICICI Bank, Adani Enterprises, Tata Steel in focus

Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are likely to start the week on a positive note, following mixed global cues. The bullish trends on SGX Nifty also signalled a gap-up opening for the Indian equities, with SGX Nifty futures trading 29 points, or 0.16%, higher at 17,935 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 7:44 AM.

This week is going to be power packed as a slew of macro economic data and corporate earnings by IT majors are slated to be released. Investors will keep an eye on macro economic data such as IIP, CPI Inflation and WPI Inflation, as well as quarterly earnings from largecap IT companies, including Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech, and banking heavyweight HDFC Bank. Adding to it, developments and news around the Covid-19 situation in the country as well as the globe would also impact market trade.

On Friday, the Indian benchmark closed higher after a choppy trade session, led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, TCS, Nestle India, and ICICI Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets. The market sentiment was lifted on hopes of a favourable earnings season and consistent buying by foreign investors. The BSE Sensex ended 143 points, or 0.24%, higher at 59,744, and the NSE Nifty surged 67 points, or 0.38%, to settle at 17,813. Outperforming the benchmark indices, the broader markets ended with solid gains. The S&P BSE Midcap index closed 0.54% higher, while the S&P BSE Smallcap index settled with 0.43% gain. The sectoral indices ended on a mixed note, with bank, FMCG, IT and oil & gas stocks rising, while auto, capital goods, and pharma companies ended lower. The top performer of the BSE Sensex pack was Asian Paints, which ended at 1.79% higher. Some of the other notable gainers included Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle India, UltraTech Cement, and ICICI Bank, which settled with more than 1% gain each.

Shares to watch today

Individual companies that will be in focus on Monday include Reliance Industries, TCS, ICICI Bank, Adani Enterprises, Tata Steel, Avenue Supermarts, KEC International, CSB Bank, Cyient, and Biocon.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL): Mukesh Ambani-backed company has acquired majority shares of luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental New York for $98.5 million. The acquisition of the premium luxury hotels in New York City was part of the company’s strategy to expand its presence in the consumer and hospitality business. RIL in an exchange filing said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL), has entered into an agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Columbus Centre Corporation (Cayman), a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and the indirect owner of a 73.37% stake in Mandarin Oriental New York.

TCS: The country’s largest IT services company has announced that its board will consider a share buyback proposal on January 12. The IT bellwether is already scheduled to release its December quarter results on that day.

ICICI Bank: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given nod to the re-appointment of Anup Bagchi as an Executive Director of ICICI Bank for a period of three years. The proposal has already been approved by the bank’s shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on August 20, 2021.

Adani Enterprises: Billionaire Gautam Adani-led company has established a new wholly-owned subsidiary, ANIL to produce the cheapest hydrogen. The development is seen as a part of the company’s strategy to emerge as the world's largest renewable energy company.

Tata Steel: The steel major has posted more than 2% growth in consolidated steel output to 7.68 million tonnes (MT) for the October-December 2021 period.

Avenue Supermarts: The company, owner and operator of retail chain D-Mart, has reported 24.6% growth in net profit at ₹586 crore, while revenue rose by 22% to ₹9,065 crore in Q3 FY22, as compared to the same period last year.

KEC International: The infrastructure major has bagged new orders worth ₹1,025 crore across its various businesses including transmission and distribution, railways, and civil.

CSB Bank: The lender has informed the exchange that its MD and CEO C VR Rajendran has decided to take early retirement and to continue leading the bank till March 31, 2022.

Cyient: Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC has offloaded 21.16 lakh equity shares in the midcap IT company via open market transactions on January 6. With this, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC’s shareholding in the company declined to 33.93 lakh shares from 56.1 lakh shares earlier.

Biocon: The biotechnology major said the US health regulator has rejected an application for Insulin Aspart filed by its subsidiary, Biocon Biologics. "The USFDA has issued a complete response letter (CRL) for the biologics license application (BLA) for Insulin Aspart filed by our partner Viatris (Mylan)," Biocon Biologics said in a press release.

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

Corporate earnings

A slew of companies such as Vikas Lifecare, Ganga papers India, Excel Realty & Infra, Add-Shop ERetail, GNA Axles, and 5Paisa Capital will announce their December quarter results today.

Foreign investors turn net buyers

Investors would keep a close eye on the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) investment trends. The foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have turned net buyers of Indian equities in the first week of January by investing ₹3,202 crore as recent retreats in the markets provided them some good buying opportunity.

Going ahead, the FPIs are likely to be cautious in their investment approach amid looming fear of the US Fed rate hike, rising concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and elevated inflation levels.

Wall Street ended mixed on Friday

The major U.S. indexes ended mixed in volatile trading on Friday as weaker-than-expected job growth last month, further raised concerns about potential rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Over the weekend on Friday, the Dow Jones dropped 0.01%, the S&P 500 lost 0.41% and the NASDAQ Composite tumbled 0.96%.

Asian markets trade mixed on muted cues from Wall Street

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region traded mixed on Monday, following subdued cues from Wall Street which ended tad lower over the weekend amid concerns over U.S. interest rate hike and surging Omicron cases.

In mainland China, the Shanghai composite rose 0.2%, while the Shenzhen component surged 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also traded higher by 0.8%.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s KOSPI plunged 1.1%, while Australia’s ASX 200 index also traded lower by 0.4%.