Sensex, Nifty to open in Red; RIL, PVR, Campus Activewear, Jet Airways, Mindtree shares in focus

Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are poised to fall in opening trade on Monday, in line with global equities, as traders remained concerned about rising interest rate hikes, sustained selling by foreign investors, and the Russia-Ukraine war. The negative trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a bearish opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 197 points, or 1.2%, lower at 16,222 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:15 AM. Traders will react to the Reliance Industries earnings reports which were announced post-market on Friday, while they will also keep an eye on other companies as some major players such as PVR, UPL, Godrej Agrovet, Borosil, Central Bank of India, are set to release their March quarter results today.

Last week, the domestic bourses ended 4% lower in the holiday-shortened week as a rate hike by the RBI and the U.S. Federal Reserve amid rising inflation as well as sustained fund outflows by foreign investors dented market sentiments. The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 2,225 points, or 3.90%, to 54,835 last week, and the 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 691 points, or 4.04%, to 16,411. Investors lost ₹11.80 lakh crore during the week ended May 6 as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms fell to ₹255.17 lakh crore from ₹266.97 lakh crore on April 29. On Friday, the Sensex ended 866 points lower at 54,835, and the Nifty tumbled 271 points to 16,411.

Shares to watch

Reliance Industries: The country’s most valued firm reported 20.2% year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit at ₹18,021 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022. The Mumbai-headquartered company has posted consolidated gross revenue of ₹232,539 crore, up 35.1% from ₹172,095 crore in Q4 FY22. The board of the company also recommended a dividend of ₹8 per equity share of ₹10 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2022.

Mindtree, L&T Infotech: L&T Group on Friday announced a merger of Mindtree and L&T Infotech to create India's next large-scale IT services player.

Campus Activewear: The shares of the company will make its debut on the BSE and NSE today.

Jet Airways (India): The airline has received security clearance to re-launch commercial flight operations in the next few months.

DCB Bank: The private sector lender on Saturday posted a 45% YoY growth in its net profit at ₹113 crore for the quarter ended March 2022. Total income in Q4 FY22 increased to ₹1,035 crore, as against ₹967 crore in the same quarter of 2020-21.

SJVN: The state-run company has bagged a 90 MW floating solar project worth ₹585 crore at Omkareshwar, in Madhya Pradesh. It will develop this project in the country's largest floating solar park at Omkareshwar in Khandwa District of Madhya Pradesh.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC): The mortgage lender on Saturday raised interest rate on home loans by 30 basis points to 7%, effective May 9. The decision was taken after the RBI monetary committee raised benchmark repo rate by 40 basis points earlier last week.

Future Enterprises: The debt-laden Future Group firm mulls to raise around ₹3,000 crore from selling its stake in the insurance business to pare debt. The company has already sold its 25 per cent equity in Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd (FGIICL) to joint venture partner Generali for ₹1,266.07 crore.

Shanthi Gears: The Tamil Nadu-based gear and gear products manufacturer on Sunday registered a 29.72% per cent rise in its profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2022 at ₹12.22 crore. A group firm of diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group had posted net profits at ₹9.42 crore during corresponding period last year.

Macrotech Developers: The real estate player will invest ₹3,800 crore in FY23 to construct various ongoing and new projects as aims to deliver 10,000 homes by next March.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL): Pushp Kumar Joshi on Sunday took over as the new chairman and managing director of the country’s third largest oil refining company.

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

Wall Street ends lower

The U.S. indices closed the week lower for the fifth straight week, its longest losing streak in more than a decade, as investors weighed aggressive policy stance by the Federal Reserve and rollback of economic stimulus to contain inflation. On Friday, all the three major indices ended in red as April’s jobs data boosted the case for the Federal Reserve to continue to lift interest rates. The market is expecting a 75 basis point interest rate hike at next month's Fed policy meeting, even after chairman Jerome Powell last week downplayed any significant movement in rates in near-term future. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.3% lower, the S&P 500 fell 0.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4%.

Asian stocks fall as rate hike concerns grow

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region traded mostly lower in opening deals on Monday amid growing concerns for rate worries, while a strict lockdown in Shanghai also raised concerns about global economic growth. The fall in U.S. stock futures also dented market sentiments. Markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney declined, while Shanghai edges higher in early trades.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 2.2%, South Korea’s KOSPI dived 0.9%, and the Straits Times Index in Singapore fell 0.1%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was the worst performer in the region with a loss of 3.8% loss, while Australia’s ASX 200 dropped 1.3%.

In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component fell 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%.

Oil prices steady on China demand concerns

The price of Brent and U.S. crude oil remained steady around $110 a barrel levels amid supply concerns after Saudi Arabia cut oil prices from record highs amid lockdowns in China to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The concerns about global economic growth as well as the looming European Union embargo on Russian oil also weighed on market sentiments.

In Asian trading hours on Friday, the Brent oil for July delivery was up 0.18% at $112.5 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude June futures were flat at $109.7 a barrel.

FIIs turn net sellers, DIIs remain net buyers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian equity market on May 6, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to support the market. As per the exchange data, FIIs net sold shares worth ₹5,517.08 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹3,014.85 crore.

Corporate earnings

The major companies that are slated to release their earnings numbers today include Aarti Drugs, BASF India, Borosil, Central Bank of India, CMS Info Systems, Craftsman Automation, Infibeam Avenues, Dalmia Bharat, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals, 3i Infotech, PVR, Godrej Agrovet, Vedant Fashions, Suven Pharmaceuticals, UPL, VST Tillers Tractors, ISMT, Mold-Tek Packaging, Visaka Industries, and Vishwaraj Sugar Industries.