Gap-down opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; ITC, HDFC, Zee, Titan, in focus

Indian equity benchmarks are likely to open lower on Thursday, tracking negative cues from Asian peers. The bearish trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-down opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 20 points, or 0.12%, lower at 17,788 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:00 AM.

On Wednesday, the domestic benchmarks continued their gaining streak for the third straight session as markets continued to remain euphoric a day after the Union Budget. Investors' wealth surged nearly ₹9.68 lakh crore in just three days as markets gave a big shout-out to the Budget 2022-23. The 30-share Sensex closed 696 points, or 1.18%, higher at 59,558, and the NSE Nifty added 203.15 points, 1.16%, to settle at 17,780. On the sectoral front, all the indices closed in positive terrain, while bank and consumer durables gained the most. The top five gainers on the BSE Sensex pack were IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Stocks to focus

ITC: The stock of cigarette to fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major will be in focus as the company is set to release its December quarter earnings report today. The stock has rose up to 6% in two days after the Union Budget 2022 proposed no hike in excise duty on cigarettes.

HDFC: The mortgage lender posted 11% YoY rise in net profit at ₹3,261 crore in the third quarter ended December 2021, driven by higher income and lower-than-expected credit loss.

Jubilant FoodWorks: The Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts operator posted a 7.5% YoY growth in consolidated net profit at ₹133.19 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021. Revenue surged 13.2% YoY to ₹1,210.77 crore in Q3FY22. The company’s board also gave nod to a stock split in the 5:1 ratio, sub-division of equity shares from a face value of ₹10 each to the face value of ₹2 each.

Adani Green Energy: The Adani Group company reported around 20% YoY rise in its consolidated net profit at ₹49 crore for Q3FY22, drive by higher revenues. Total income surged 74.5% YoY to ₹1,471 crore.

Zee Entertainment (ZEEL): The media company posted 25% fall in consolidated net profit at ₹299 crore for Q3FY22 as against ₹398 crore in the year ago period. Total income also fell by 22.7% YoY to ₹2,130.44 crore.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB): The state-owned lender posted a 113% YoY growth in net profit at ₹454 crore in Q3FY22 from ₹213 crore in Q3FY21. The bank’s net interest income (NII) climbed 3.3% to ₹1,572 crore as compared to same period last year.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: The company posted net profit of ₹894 crore in December quarter of 2021, as against a net loss of ₹274 crore in Q3FY21. The net interest income jumped 14% YoY to ₹1,580 crore in Q3FY22.

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 U.S. benchmarks closed higher, extending rally for the fourth straight session, supported by strong earnings from Google parent Alphabet and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices. Investors also shrugged off the pace of Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, while OPEC+ decision to moderate oil output helped ease concerns about weak economic reports. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.94%, the blue-chip Dow Jones index gained 0.63%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 0.50% higher.

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

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region traded lower on Thursday, undermining firm cues from Wall Street which ended higher overnight. The trading volume remained thin as China and most other regional markets were closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.2% in early trade, snapping two-session gaining streak. Australia’s ASX 200 index also fell 0.4%.

Bucking the trend, the Straits Times in Singapore surged 1.83%, while South Korea’s KOSPI rallied over 2%.

Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand were closed for the holiday.

Brent crude futures edge lower

The oil prices edged lower during early trade on Thursday as geopolitical uncertainties continue to mount in the backdrop of fear of confrontation between the US-led NATO powers and Russia over the future of Ukraine. However, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) decision to increase the collective production by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March eased supply concerns.

During the early Asian trading hours, the global benchmark Brent crude futures traded down by 0.28% to $89.06 per barrel, while the U.S. WTI crude futures dropped 0.61% at $87.72 a barrel.

In the overnight trade, Brent crude oil price added 31 cents to $89.47 a barrel, while the U.S. WTI rose 6 cents to $88.26 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 Aditya Birla Capital, Adani Power, Adani Transmission, ITC, Titan Company, Lupin, GAIL (India), Godrej Properties, Cadila Healthcare, Emami.

Among others, Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, Brigade Enterprises, Aavas Financiers, Coromandel International, Dishman Carbogen HCC, HG Infra Engineering, India Pesticides, JK Tyre & Industries, Jubilant Industries, Kalyan Jewellers India, Lux Industries, NESCO, Pfizer, PI Industries, Prince Pipes and Fittings, Radico Khaitan, Rolex Rings, Sigachi Industries, SIS, Sumitomo Chemical India, Torrent Power, Varun Beverages, Welspun India, and Westlife Development, will also release their earnings report on February 3.

FIIs remain sellers, DIIs turn net buyers

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to remain net sellers in the Indian equity market on February 2, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also continued to remain net buyers. As per the data available on the NSE, FIIs sold shares worth ₹183.6 crore, while DIIs net bought shares worth ₹426 crore.