Gap-up opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; SBI, ACC, YES Bank, Airtel, JSPL, Federal Bank shares eyed

The equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are expected to open higher on Friday, tracking mixed cues from global peers. The positive trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 50 points, or 0.32%, higher at 15,984 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 7:50 AM. Investors will keep an eye on the rupee-dollar trend, Brent crude oil price, and foreign funds movement. Among individual stocks, JSPL, Federal Bank, Den Networks, Just Dial, L&T Technology Services, and Oberoi Realty, will be in focus ahead of their June quarter results.

On Thursday, the domestic bourses closed lower for the fourth straight day due to selling in banking and IT stocks as well as weak global cues. The 30-share Sensex ended 98 points, or 0.18%, lower at 53,416, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 28 points, or 0.18%, to settle at 15,939. In the last four sessions, Sensex tumbled 1,065 points, while Nifty lost 282 points. The top laggards on the BSE Sensex pack were Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, UltraTech Cement and ITC. On the gaining side, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Lab, Maruti Suzuki India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and Reliance Industries were among top performers.

Stocks to watch

State Bank of India: The country’s largest lender has hiked its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points (bps), effective July 15. The overnight, one-month, and three-month MCLR now stand at 7.15%.

ACC: The cement major, which was recently acquired by the Adani group, has reported a 60% year-on-year slump in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to ₹227 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. The profit was impacted by moderation in demand and prices as well as higher input costs. Consolidated revenue for the quarter grew 15% YoY to ₹4,468 crore.

YES Bank: The private sector lender has clarified that reports claiming that the bank had received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to hold 20% stake in an asset reconstruction company are “speculative”.

IndusInd Bank: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against certain entities, including some employees of the private bank, over alleged financial irregularities, the lender said in an exchange filing.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech: The company, a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro group, has reported a 27.7% rise in net profit at ₹634.4 crore as compared to ₹496.8 crore during the same period last year. The revenue from operations rose 30.6% on a year-on-year basis to ₹45,228 crore.

Bharti Airtel: The telecom major has approved preferential allotment of 7.1 crore shares to Alphabet-owned Google International LLC for about 1.20% of the total post-issue stake. The shares, allotted at an issue price of ₹734 apiece, include a premium of ₹729 apiece.

Torrent Power: The company has secured a 300 MW wind energy project worth ₹2,600 crore in Karnataka from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Vedanta: Global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) on Thursday said liquidity stress has eased for Vedanta Resources as the company has addressed a large part of its debt maturities for financial year 2023 (FY23).

Welspun Corp: The manufacturer of large diameter pipes has said its associate company, East Pipes Integrated Company for Industry, has bagged an order of 324 million Saudi Riyal (around ₹689 crore) from Saline Water Conversion Corporation in Saudi Arabia.

Eureka Forbes: Construction major Shapoorji Pallonji and Company has sold its remaining 8.7% stake in the firm to the new owner Lunolux, a firm backed by private equity firm Advent International.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals: The drug maker’s nitric oxide nasal spray (NONS) reduces the viral load of Covid-19 in high-risk adult by 94% within 24 hours and 99% in 48 hours, as per the results of phase 3 trial of the drug published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal.

Delta Corp: The stock will be under the NSE F&O ban today as the security has breached 95% of the market-wide position limit.

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

Wall Street ends lower

In the overnight trade, U.S. stocks ended a tad lower as soaring inflation kept investors jittery, while weaker-than-expected earnings from JP Morgan Chase further dented sentiments. There is wide speculation in the market that the U.S. central bank may raise rate by 100 bps after the bigger-than-expected rise in the consumer price index (CPI), which surged 9.1% year-on-year in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.5% lower, the S&P 500 shed 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite settled marginally lower by 0.03%.

Asian stocks mixed

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mixed on Friday, following soft cues from the U.S. market, with Japan and South Korea edging higher, while China and Hong Kong were reeling under stress. The persistent concerns about the global economic slowdown in the face of the Covid-19 resurgence in China and rate hikes by central banks globally weighed on investors’ sentiments. On Thursday, the European Commission lowered its forecasts for eurozone economic growth in the calendar year 2022 and raised its estimates for inflation.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.6%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2%, and Taiwan Weighted Index added 0.5%. The Straits Times in Singapore was also trading 0.3% higher.

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.5%, Australia’s ASX 200 shed 1%, and the Jakarta Composite in Indonesia traded marginally lower by 0.1%.

Markets in mainland China were up, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component rising by 0.1% and 0.6%, respectively.

Crude prices stay below $100

Brent and U.S. crude continue to trade below $100 per barrel for the third consecutive session on Friday amid prospect of a large U.S. rate hike later this month that could impact global oil demand. Adding to it, Covid-19 lockdown measures in China and a strong dollar also weighed on oil prices. In early Asian trading hours on Friday, the Brent oil for September delivery rose 1.16% to $100.2 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude August futures were up 0.8% at $96.56 a barrel.

FIIs turn net buyer, DIIs net seller

Reversing the trend, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the Indian equities on July 14, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) emerged as net sellers. As per the exchange data, FIIs purchased shares worth ₹309.06 crore, while DIIs net sold shares amounting to ₹556.40 crore.

Corporate results

Jindal Steel & Power, Federal Bank, Den Networks, Just Dial, L&T Technology Services, Oberoi Realty, Aditya Birla Money, Deep Diamond India, Kesoram Industries, Integrated Capital Services, Lloyds Metals and Energy, and Opto Circuits (India) will release their June quarter results today.

Among others, HDFC Bank, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Bharat Electronics, Netlink Solutions, Pil Italica Lifestyle, and Welcure Drugs & Pharmaceuticals will declare their quarterly results on July 16.