Soft opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; Airtel, SBI, BPCL, Paytm, IOB, Marico, Power Grid shares eyed

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to open tad lower on Monday, tracking soft cues from global equities. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower, while Wall Street closed mixed on Friday as resilient U.S. jobs data boosted the case for aggressive rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Back home, the soft trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a subdued opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 39 points, or 0.23%, lower at 17,384 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM. After RBI policy last week, there are a slew of macroeconomic data, which are slated to be released this week. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for June and Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May are scheduled to be released on August 12. Among individual stocks, Bharti Airtel Power Grid Corporation of India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, NALCO, Astrazeneca Pharma India will be in focus ahead of their quarterly results. On the global front, investors will track the Inflation figures of the United States and China, slated to be out during the week.

Last week, the domestic bourses ended on a positive note for the third consecutive week, supported by strong buying by foreign institutional investors, ease in commodity prices amid stellar macroeconomic data. The BSE Sensex advanced 1.42% to 58,388 during the week ended August 5, and the 50-share Nifty index added 1.39% to 17,397 levels. Eight of the 10 most valued firms together added ₹98,235 crore in market valuation last week, led by IT majors Infosys and TCS. On Friday, the 30-share Sensex ended 89 points higher at 58,387, and the broader Nifty50 gained 7 points to 17,389. The top gainers on the BSE Sensex were UltraTech Cements, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, and PowerGrid Bank. On the losing side, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, and IndusInd Bank topped the chart.

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

Stocks to watch

State Bank of India’s (SBI): The country’s largest lender registered a 6.7% year-on-year (YoY) fall in net profit to ₹6,068 crore in April-June quarter (Q1) of FY23, compared to ₹6,504 crore in the corresponding period of the last year. Net interest income of the PSU bank rose 13% YoY to ₹31,196 crore in Q1 FY23, while non-interest income plunged 80% to ₹2,312 crore due to loss on investments rose to ₹6,549 crore.

One97 Communications: The company, which operates under the Paytm brand, reported a consolidated loss of ₹644.4 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, as against a net loss of ₹380.2 crore a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations jumped 89% to ₹1,680 crore, versus ₹891 crore in the June 2021 quarter.

Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL): The state-owned power company will seek shareholders' approval to raise up to ₹6,000 crore through the issuance of bonds during the financial year 2023-24. The proposal will be discussed during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on August 29, 2022.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL): The oil company reported a net loss of ₹6,291 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal, compared to a loss of ₹3,192.58 crore in the same period a year back. Revenue from operations rose to ₹1.38 lakh crore from ₹89,688.98 crore in Q1 FY22.

Marico: FMCG major posted a 3.28% rise in its consolidated net profit to ₹377 crore for the first quarter ended June, as against ₹365 crore in the corresponding period last year. Its revenue from operations rose marginally by 1.3% to ₹2,558 crore, from ₹2,525 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

Fortis Healthcare: The healthcare company reported 69% decline in consolidated net profit at ₹134 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, as against ₹431 crore in the year-ago period, which included an exceptional gain of ₹306 crore. During the quarter under review, revenues increased to ₹1,488 crore as compared with ₹1,410 crore in the year-ago period.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB): The PSU lender has said it will raise around ₹1,000 crore through qualified institutional placements (QIP) to sustain business growth. The lender has posted a 20% growth in net profit for the first quarter of the current financial year to ₹392 crore, compared with ₹327 crore in the year-ago period, supported by decline in bad loans.

Nykaa: Beauty and wellness e-commerce firm on Friday said it will acquire digital content-cum-commerce firm Iluminar Media known by the brand name of Little Black Book (LBB).

Raymond: The firm posted a consolidated net profit of ₹81.93 crore for the first quarter ended June 2022, compared to a net loss of ₹157.10 crore during the April-June quarter of the previous fiscal, driven by higher sales. Its revenue from operations stood at ₹1,728.14 crore, up two-fold, in comparison with a lower base of the pandemic-impacted corresponding quarter.

Wall Street ends mixed

On Friday, the U.S. stocks closed mixed as strong payrolls data reignited fear of rate hike by the central bank. The data released by the labour department showed that the U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in July, while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%. The S&P 500 index ended 0.16% lower, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composites settled 0.5% higher.

Asian shares off to sluggish start

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower with marginal losses in early trade on Monday as a strong U.S. payrolls report boosted the case for rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

In the early trade, regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.2%, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2%. The Straits Times in Singapore dropped 0.7%, Taiwan Weighted index shed 0.3%, and Australia’s ASX 200 was trading marginally lower.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong tumbled 0.7% and the Jakarta Composite in Indonesia slipped 0.25%.

Markets in mainland China were trading marginally higher, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component rising between 0.1% to 0.2%.

Crude oil slips to multi-month low

The crude prices were quoting near the multi-month low in early trade on Monday as concerns about global economic slowdown dented the demand outlook, while aggressive rate hikes by the central banks globally also added to the woes for oil producers. In Asian trading hours, the Brent oil for October delivery was flat at $94.94 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude September futures rose marginally to $89.02 a barrel.

FPIs pump in ₹14,000 crore in a week

After turning net buyers last month, the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) extended their bullish stance in the the Indian equity market and invested over ₹14,000 crore in the first week of August. This is much higher than the net investment of around ₹5,000 crore made by FPIs in the entire July, the data showed. FPIs turned buyers in July after nine straight months of net outflows of ₹2.46 lakh crore between October 2021 and June 2022.

FIIs remain net buyers, DIIs net sellers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their gaining streak in the Indian equity market on August 5, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net sellers. As per the exchange data, FIIs net purchased shares worth ₹1,605.8 crore, while DIIs net sold shares worth ₹495.9 crore.

Corporate results

The major companies that will release their June quarter earnings include Bharti Airtel Power Grid Corporation of India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, NALCO, and Astrazeneca Pharma India. Among others, Chemcon Speciality Chemicals, City Union Bank, Delhivery, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals, Housing & Urban Development Corporation, JK Tyre & Industries, Jaypee Infratech, Vedant Fashions, Samvardhana Motherson International, Sequent Scientific, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Subex, Torrent Power, and Whirlpool of India will also be in focus today.