Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Wednesday, tracking positive finish at Wall Street overnight and firm cues from Asian peers. The strong trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 116 points, or 0.66%, higher at 17,713 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM.

On Tuesday, the benchmark indices closed higher as investors cheered Budget announcements, which aim to boost economic growth battered by Covid-19 and rising inflation. The equity markets gave thumbs up to budgetary announcements that proposed a huge outlay of capital expenditure in overall infrastructure development. The BSE Sensex closed 848.4 points, or 1.46%, higher at 58,862 points, and the NSE Nifty50 settled at 17,577, up 237 points, or 0.92%. On the sectoral front, metal and capital goods sectors gained the most, while oil and gas and auto stocks emerged as worst performers. The top gainers on the BSE Sensex were Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and UltraTech Cement.

Stocks to focus

Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas: Shares of billionaire Gautam Adani-led companies will be in focus today as they will release their December quarter earnings.

Tech Mahindra: The largecap IT company reported consolidated net profit of ₹1,378.2 crore in Q3FY22 against ₹1,340.9 crore in Q2FY22. The revenue increased to ₹11,450.8 crore from ₹10,881.3 crore on sequential basis.

Amber Enterprises India: The company has acquired 60% stake in Pravartaka Tooling Services. Pravartaka is engaged in the business of injection mould tool manufacturing and injection moulding components manufacturing for various industries.

Hero MotoCorp: The world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer sold 380,476 units in January 2022, compared to 485,889 units in the year ago period. The sales of the company were impacted by fresh rise in Covid-19 cases and subsequent restriction in states.

Bharat Forge: A subsidiary of the company, Bharat Forge International, has acquired additional 366,451 fully diluted equity shares of Tewa Motors (Jersey) Ltd, following the conversion of the Convertible Loan Note.

Maruti Suzuki: The country's largest carmaker has reported a 3.96% drop in total wholesales at 154,379 units in January, against 160,752 units in the year ago period.

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

Wall Street ends higher in choppy trade

In the overnight trade, all three major U.S. indices closed higher in a volatile session as investors remained uncertain about future outlook amid looming fear of rate hike by the Federal Reserve and geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Wall Street witnessed a wild swing last week after the Federal Reserve indicated it is likely to raise interest rates in March, while strong GDP data further fuelled fear about the sooner-than-expected hike in rates. On Tuesday, the benchmark S&P 500 ended 0.69% higher, the blue-chip Dow Jones index added 0.78%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.75%.

Japan, Australia trade higher; most Asian stocks closed for holiday

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region witnessed thing trade on Tuesday as China and most other regional markets were closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1.7% in early trade, following strong finish at Wall Street overnight. Australia’s ASX 200 index also gained over 1% after its central bank maintained dovish stance on cash rate yesterday.

Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore were closed for the holiday.

Brent crude prices edge higher ahead of OPEC+ meeting

The oil prices edged higher during early trade on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions and tight supply provided support to the market. Traders will keep a close eye on the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) meeting today where they may announce a larger production increase for March.

There is speculation that the OPEC+ may take a call on raising production for March than the usual 400,000 barrels per day, in the backdrop of record rally in oil price in the last few weeks.

During the early Asian trading hours, the global benchmark Brent crude futures traded flat at $89.41 per barrel, while the U.S. WTI crude futures rose 0.24% at $88.41 a barrel.

In the overnight trade, Brent crude oil price added 22 cents to $89.48 a barrel, while the U.S. WTI rose 20 cents to $88.35 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Corporate earnings

The big players that will release their December quarter earnings reports today include HDFC, Dabur India, Adani Green Energy, Apollo Tyres, Adani Total Gas, Indian Overseas Bank, JK Jubilant FoodWorks, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services.

Among others, Aarti Surfactants, Bajaj Consumer Care, Balaji Amines, Balrampur Chini Mills, Blue Star, eClerx Services, Gillette India, JK Lakshmi Cement, Meghmani Organics, Sandhar Technologies, Shankara Building Products, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Timken India, VRL Logistics, Windlas Biotech, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and Zydus Wellness, will also release their earnings report on February 2.

FIIs remain net sellers, DIIs turn net buyers

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to remain net sellers in the Indian equity market on February 1, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers. As per the data available on the NSE, FIIs sold shares worth ₹21.8 crore, while DIIs net bought shares worth ₹1,597.7 crore.

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