The domestic benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are poised to open with solid gains on Friday, following positive cues from Asian peers and a strong finish on Wall Street overnight. The bullish trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 93 points, or 0.57%, higher at 16,269 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:20 AM. Investors will keep an eye on corporate earnings as some big players such as JSW Steel, Nykaa, GAIL, Glenmark Pharma, Godrej Industries, Ruchi Soya are scheduled to release their financial earnings reports today.

Snapping three sessions losing streak, the domestic bourses ended higher on Thursday amid a surge in buying in beaten-down metal, bank, and IT stocks amid the expiry of monthly derivative contracts. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 503 points, or 0.94%, to end at 54,253, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 144 points, or 0.90%, to settle at 16,170. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge spurted 1.44% while the smallcap index jumped 0.78%. The top gainers on the BSE Sensex pack were Tata Steel, SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Nestle India, HDFC, ICICI Bank, TCS and Wipro. Among sectors, metal index gained the most at 3.35%, followed by bank (2.15%), finance (1.97%), basic materials (1.76%) and realty (1.43%).

Stocks to watch

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL): The Centre has called off the privatisation process of the oil marketing company based on the decision of the alternative mechanism on strategic disinvestment. As per the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), the decision on its re-initiation of the process will be taken in due course following a review of the situation.

ONGC: Oil and gas major has said it will invest ₹31,000 crore over the next three years to further intensify its exploration campaign. This is 150% of its exploration expenditure of ₹20,670 crore in the last three fiscals during FY 2019-22.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals: The drug maker has signed an agreement with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories to acquire four of its brands Styptovit-E, Finast, Finast-T, and Dynapress. As per the deal, Torrent will manufacture, market, and distribute these brands in India.

Bharti Airtel: Singapore-based Singtel Group has refuted reports which claimed that the company was planning to sell a stake in Bharti Airtel worth up to $2 billion to Bharti Telecom.

Jet Airways: The airline, which remains grounded for more than two years, has posted a net loss of ₹233.63 crore for fourth quarter ended March 2022, against a loss of ₹107.01 crore in the year-ago period. Total income was at ₹11.63 crore compared with ₹17.73 crore in the same period last year.

NMDC: The state-owned saw its consolidated net profit dropping 36% to ₹1,812.98 crore for the quarter ended March 31, as against ₹2,835.54 crore in the year-ago period, dented by higher expenses. The total income rose marginally to ₹7,034.83 crore during the period under review.

Zee Entertainment: The media firm reported a consolidated net profit of ₹181.93 crore for the March quarter of 2022, against a net profit of ₹272.36 crore in the year-ago period. Its total income rose to ₹2,361.17 crore, from ₹1,984.39 crore in Q4 FY22.

Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc: The metals and mining major has pledged 86% of its shareholding in Hindustan Zinc during the quarter ending March 31, 2022. Vedanta owns 64.9% stake in Hindustan Zinc.

Berger Paints India: The company posted a 5.60% YoY rise in consolidated net profit to ₹220.29 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2022. Revenue from operations climbed 7.96% to ₹2,187.51 crore during the quarter.

Hindalco: Aditya Birla Group’s flagship metal company reported a 100% jump in its net profit to ₹3,851 crore in the quarter ended March compared with ₹1,928 crore in the same period last year. The aluminium maker’s revenue from operations jumped 38% year-on-year to ₹55,764 crore in the fourth quarter compared with ₹40,507 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Muthoot Finance: The country’s largest gold financing company reported a 4% fall in Jan-March profit at ₹960 crore as compared to ₹996 crore profit during the corresponding period last year, primarily due to economic challenges posed by geopolitical crisis and Covid pandemic. The company’s income also dipped 5% to ₹2,678.37 crore in the said quarter as compared to ₹2823.85 crore during the same period last year.

Coal India: The coal miner is planning to divest 25% stake in its unlisted arm Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and will go for the subsequent listing of the subsidiary on stock exchanges after obtaining further clearances.

HDFC: The mortgage lender has said it has sold 10% of its stake in HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd (HCAL) to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for ₹184 crore. With this, HCAL ceases to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of HDFC.

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

Wall Street ends higher

In the overnight trade, all three major U.S. indices closed higher amid bargain hunting as optimistic retail earnings outlooks lifted mood on Wall Street. The minutes from the Fed recent monetary policy meeting also eased investors’ nerves about the sharp rise in interest rates in the coming months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.6% higher, S&P 500 rallied 2%, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.6%.

Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were in upbeat mood on Friday, following strong finish at Wall Street overnight, amid easing concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6%, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.9%, and the Straits Times Index in Singapore was trading 0.6% higher.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was the best performer in the region with more than 3% gain, followed by Taiwan’s Weighted index, which jumped 1.7% in early trade. Among others, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite rose 1.4% and Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.8%.

In the mainland China, the Shenzhen Component and the Shanghai Composite traded higher by over 0.6% each.

Crude prices firm at $114

The price of Brent and U.S. crude were hovering around $114 levels on early trade on Friday amid tight supply. Besides, improved outlook for fuel demand with easing Covid-19 restrictions in China and looming fear of a ban on Russian oil imports by the European Union also pushed prices higher. In Asian trading hours, the Brent oil for July delivery climbed 0.2% to $114.4 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude July futures rose 0.1% to $114.2 a barrel.

FIIs remain net sellers, DIIs net buyers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling spree in the Indian equity market on May 26, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to support the market. As per the exchange data, FIIs net sold shares worth ₹1,597.84 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹2,906.46 crore.

Corporate earnings

The major companies that are expected to release their March quarter earnings today include GAIL, Glenmark Pharma, JSW Steel, Nykaa, Godrej Industries, Jubilant Industries, and Ruchi Soya. Among others, Aarti Industries, Aegis Logistics, Akzo Nobel India, Apar Industries, Arvind Fashions, Astral Pipes, Atul Auto, Balmar Lawrie, BEML, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, City Union Bank, Edelweiss Financial Services, Engineers India, Ion Exchange, Info Edge India, India Cements, PB Fintech (Policy Bazaar), Jubilant Pharmova, JP Power, ESAB India, Everest Industries, Exxaro Tiles, Future Consumer, Force Motors, Heritage Foods, HT Media, Inox Wind, IRCON International, Kalyani Forge, Karnataka Bank, Lemon Tree Hotels, Man Industries, Oil India Ltd, Ramky Infrastructure, Sun TV, Tarsons Products, TCNS Brands, United Spirits, and VRL Logistics will also unveil their results on May 27.

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