Gap-up opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; RIL, Eicher Motors, Cipla, Coal India, Vedanta shares eyed

Indian equity benchmarks are poised to open higher on Tuesday after sharp sell-off in the previous session. The mixed cues from Asian peers and positive trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 102 points, or 0.61%, higher at 16,941 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:00 AM.

On Monday, the domestic benchmarks crashed over 3% as escalating Ukraine-Russia tensions, record rise in crude prices, and fear of aggressive policy stance by the U.S. Federal Reserve triggered sell-off in global equity markets. Extending fall for the second session, the BSE Sensex closed 1,747 points, or 3%, lower at 56,406, and the NSE Nifty plunged 532 points, or 3.06%, to 16,843. The market witnessed broad-based selling with all sectoral indices closing in negative terrain. The realty and metal indices were the top losers, while IT and Tech declined the least. Out of top-30 shares on the BSE Sensex, barring Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), all index heavyweights ended in red. The top five losers were ITC, Tata Steel, Housing Development Finance Corporation, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

Stocks to watch

Reliance Industries: The telecom arm of Reliance Industries, Jio Platforms, has agreed to invest $200 million in AI-driven lock-screen platform Glance in the latter’s Series D funding round. The InMobi Group company has Google and Silicon Valley-based venture fund Mithril Capital among its investors. Along with the investment from Jio Platforms, Glance has also entered into a business partnership arrangement with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited.

Eicher Motors: The auto major, that manufactures trucks, buses, and motorbikes, on Monday reported a 14.5% year-on-year decline in its consolidated net profit for October-December quarter at ₹456 crore. The automobile company's total revenue grew 1.9% to ₹2,881 crore during the quarter under review, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 13.4% to ₹582 crore.

Cipla: The share of drug maker will be in focus as promoters are likely to offload as much as 2.5% stake in the company on Tuesday for ₹1,844 crore. As per report, Yusuf Hamied and Mustafa Hamied will sell stake through a block deal under which the floor price has been fixed in the range of ₹904.8-916.7 apiece.

SpiceJet: The board of low-cost carrier will meet on February 15 to consider and approve the third-quarter earnings. The meeting was originally scheduled on Monday but it was deferred after the audit committee's meeting to approve third-quarter financial results remained 'inconclusive' and was adjourned to Tuesday.

Coal India: The state-owned miner reported a 47.7% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to ₹4,558.4 crore for the quarter ended December 2021. The consolidated revenue from operations rose 20% on-year to ₹28,433.5 crore for the reported quarter. The board of the company also approved a second interim dividend of ₹5 per share on a face value of ₹10 per share.

Vedanta: The Anil Agarwal-led mining company has signed an agreement with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group, also known as Foxconn, to manufacture semiconductors in India. As per the agreement, Vedanta will hold the majority stake while Foxconn will be the minority shareholder. Vedanta’s Chairman Anil Agarwal will head the joint venture.

Stocks under F&O ban: As many as five stocks - BHEL, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Punjab National Bank, SAIL and Tata Power Company – will be under the F&O ban today.

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

Wall Street closes lower on Ukraine tensions, Fed fears

In the overnight trade, all three major U.S. indices closed lower as fear of hawkish policy stance from the Federal Reserve and escalating geo-political tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to drag market lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.5% lower, the S&P 500 fell 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite ended flat in highly volatile trade.

Asian stocks mixed

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region traded mixed on Tuesday as traders assessed the latest geopolitical developments while fear of rate hike by the U.S. central bank also weighed on market. The weak cues from U.S. and European markets also dented market sentiment.

The Japanese stock market opened lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling 0.3% in early trade. South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.05%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.18%. The Straits Times Index in Singapore traded flat with positive bias.

In mainland China, the Shenzhen component and the Shanghai composite traded surged 1.3% and 0.3%, respectively, in early deals.

FIIs turns net sellers, DIIs emerge as net buyers

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in the Indian equity market on February 14, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers. As per the data available on the NSE, FIIs sold shares worth ₹4,253.70 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹2,170.3 crore.

CPI inflation hits 7-month high of 6.01% in Jan, WPI inflation rises to 12.96%

India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged to 6.01% in January 2022, hitting seven-month high, as per data released by the National Statistical Office on February 14. The headline inflation was 5.66% in December 2021.

In the latest policy meeting in February, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that the CPI would be around 6% mark, due to an unfavourable base effect.

Meanwhile, India's wholesale price index stayed in the double digit for the 10th month in a row at 12.96% in January.

Brent crude crosses $96 on Ukraine woes

Global benchmark Brent crude crossed $96 a barrel to hit seven-year high on Tuesday as fear of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia, one of the major oil producers, rattled investors’ sentiments. Investors feared that rising geo-political tensions may lead to further supply disruptions in an already-tight market.

In the overnight trade, Brent crude futures settled 2.2% higher at $96.48 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude surged 2.5% to $95.46 per barrel.

During the early Asian trading hours on Tuesday, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 0.54% to $94.95 a barrel, while the Brent oil futures dropped by 0.48% to $96.02 per barrel.