Indian equity benchmarks are expected to start the week on a bearish note, following mixed cues from Asian peers. The trends on the SGX Nifty futures also indicated a gap-down opening for domestic bourses, with Nifty futures trading 34 points, or 0.19%, lower at 17,456 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:00 AM.

Some of the key triggers that will set the tone for the market this week include Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy, trends in global equity markets, crude prices, IIP data, and quarterly earnings. Investors will keep a close eye on the RBI policy outcome and its commentary on inflation.

Last week, the domestic benchmarks gained nearly 2.5% as investors cheered the pro-growth Budget which aims to bring the economy back on track. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 1,445 points in the past five trading sessions, while the NSE Nifty index surged 414 points. On Friday, the equity market ended lower for the second straight session, led by rate-sensitive realty, auto, and PSU bank stocks. The BSE Sensex ended 143 points, or 0.24%, lower at 58,644, and the NSE Nifty fell 44 points, 0.25%, to 17,516. On the sectoral front, realty, auto, and PSU banks were among the worst performers, while metal and power gained the most. Out of the top 30 shares on the BSE Sensex pack, 11 heavyweights closed higher, while the remaining ended in negative terrain. State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Wipro were among the top five losers on the BSE Sensex.

Stock to watch

Reliance Industries: Jio, the telecom arm of RIL, has announced an investment of $15 million in the U.S. tech firm Two Platforms Inc. for a 25% equity stake on a fully diluted basis.

SBI: The country’s largest lender has reported 62.3% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its net profit at ₹8,432 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, supported by a solid gain in the personal retail segment, driven by home loans, Xpress credit and other loans. The total income of the bank rose by 3.1% to ₹78,351 crore in Q3 FY22, as against ₹75,981 crore in the same period last year.

Zee Entertainment: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has filed a bankruptcy case against the debt-laden company with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The case pertains to alleged default of ₹83.08 crore term loan facility issued to Siti Networks, a cable TV operator promoted by Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group.

Bank of Baroda: The PSU lender has reported a 107% YoY growth in net profit at ₹2,197 crore for the December quarter on the back of higher net interest income and lower provisions. Net interest income rose by 14.38% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹8,552.03 crore while provisions and contingencies fell 27.33% from a year ago to ₹2,507.04 crore.

One97 Communications (Paytm): The country’s leading digital payments and financial services company has reported 89% year-on-year growth in revenue at ₹1,456 crore for the quarter ended December 2021. The EBITDA losses dropped to ₹393 crore from ₹488 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

PVR: The cinema chain operator has inked a deal with M3M India to establish an 8-screen multiplex at M3M 65th Avenue, located in Gurugram, Haryana. “The M3M 65thAvenue has impressed us a lot in terms of architecture and designing and also the location. It has a huge potential and is expected to cater to about half a million population in the vicinity,” said Sanjeev Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR.

Tata Steel: The steelmaker reported a sharply higher net profit at Rs 9,572.67 crore in the December quarter of 2021, against Rs 3,697.22 crore in the year-ago period. The revenue climbed to Rs 60,783.11 crore from Rs 41,935.21 crore in Q3FY21.

Easy Trip Planners: The travel company has signed a pact with Yolo Traveltech to acquire its brand name, technology, running business expertise, data and team.

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

U.S. stocks end mixed on strong jobs data

On Wall Street, the major U.S. indices closed on mixed note as strong earnings by e-commerce giant Amazon boosted market sentiment. However, strong U.S. jobs data released on Friday and expectations that inflation will spike to a 40-year high this week have raised concerns about rate hike by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.06% lower, the S&P 500 rose 0.52%, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.58%.

Asian stocks trade mostly lower

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower, tracking mixed cues from Wall Street. Investors weigh solid U.S. jobs data that eased concerns about the global economy but raised risk of policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.8%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.7%, and South Korea’s KOSPI tumbled 0.9%. Australia’s ASX 200 index also traded lower by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the Straits Times in Singapore rose 0.1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite surged 1.8% in early deals.

Corporate earnings

The big players that will release their December quarter earnings reports today include TVS Motor Company, Union Bank of India, Texmaco Rail, NALCO, Borosil, Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals, Castrol India, Fortis Malar Hospitals.

Among others, Camlin Fine Sciences, Camlin Fine Sciences, Castrol India, Chemcon Speciality Chemicals, Clean Science and Technology, Future Supply Chain Solutions, Gabriel India, Indo Count Industries, Indian Bank, JM Financial, Jindal Stainless, Lasa Supergenerics, Likhitha Infrastructure, Nucleus Software Exports, Paisalo Digital, Peninsula Land, The Phoenix Mills, PB Fintech, Punjab & Sind Bank, Sansera Engineering, S H Kelkar and Company, Talbros Engineering, Tarsons Products, Texmaco Infrastructure, Tube Investments of India, and Zodiac Energy, will also release their earnings report on February 7.

FIIs pull out 6,834 crore from Indian markets

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have pulled out ₹3,627 crore from equities, ₹3,173 crore from debt and ₹34 crore from hybrid instruments, during the first week of February. On Friday, FIIs net sold shares worth Rs 2,267.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth ₹621.98 crore in the Indian equity market, as per data available on the NSE.

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