Sensex, Nifty to open in red; Tata Motors, NHPC, Lupin, JSW Steel, Wipro, Zomato shares eyed

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to open lower on Friday as mixed cues from global equities weighed on investors’ sentiments. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mixed, following a muted closing on Wall Street overnight, as investors digested minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, while concerns about the health of China's economy also spooked sentiments. Back home, bearish trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a negative opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 45 points, or 0.25%, lower at 17,959 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:20 AM.

On Thursday, the Indian equities continued their gaining momentum, supported by buying select blue-chip stocks despite a largely negative trend in global markets. Extending the uptrend for the fifth straight session, the BSE Sensex closed 38 points higher at 60,298 in choppy trade, and the NSE Nifty rose 12 points to settle at 17,956, registering its eighth consecutive gain. The top gainers on the Sensex pack were Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, and ITC. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Wipro, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, and Nestle were among the laggards.

Stocks to watch

Tata Motors: The auto major has won an order to supply 921 electric buses to the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). As per the contract, the company will supply, operate and maintain the 12-metre Tata Starbus for a period of 12 years.

NHPC: Nepal has signed a deal with the state-owned company to develop a hydroelectric plant in the west of the nation years after a Chinese firm backed out.

JSW Steel: Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday approved the proposal to merge Creixent Special Steels and JSW Ispat into JSW Steel.

Lupin: The drug maker said it has received approval from the U.S. health regulator to market its generic rufinamide tablets used in the treatment seizures.

Wipro: The IT major has secured a multi-year contract to deliver service integration and management services to the U.K. government treasury.

Tata Power: Tata Power Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of the company, has raised ₹2,000 crore by offering 83.6 million equity shares to BlackRock-backed GreenForest New Energies Bidco. The deal is part of the ₹4,000 crore investments announced in April by Tata Power for its green energy business.

JK Tyre & Industries: The tyre manufacturer has raised price by 6-7% and plans to further hike the price to offset raw material cost.

SpiceJet: The homegrown airline and Swiss firm Credit Suisse AG have informed the Supreme Court that they have settled their financial dispute and they want to withdraw the case from the apex court.

Zomato: The foodtech company-owned Blinkit has announced to deliver printouts at your doorsteps in minutes. Initially, the new service will be available in some areas under the pilot before a wider rollout takes place.

Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp: Both these companies will be under NSE F&O ban today as they have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

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

Wall Street ends tad higher

In the overnight trade, the U.S. indices closed marginally higher as investors digested minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, while robust sales forecast from Cisco Systems boosted the technology stocks. The Fed minutes reveal that the official will go for another rate hike in September, albeit at a slower pace. On the macro front, data showed that the U.S. jobless claims fell during the week ending August 13, and home sales dropped 6% in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 added 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite settled 0.2% higher.

Asian shares mixed

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mixed in early trade on Friday, following muted cues from Wall Street and European markets overnight, while concerns about the health of China's economy also dented sentiments. Investors weighed the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes which reveal that officials may go for at least a half-point hike in September amid growing concerns that a hike in interest rates would push the economy into recession.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.1%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 0.26%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite climbed 0.5%. Similarly, Taiwan Weighted index was up 0.15% and Australia’s ASX 200 was trading marginally above base line.

On the other hand, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.15% and Singapore’s Straits Times shed 0.6%.

Markets in mainland China were trading lower, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component falling by 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively.

FIIs turn net sellers, DIIs net buyers

In a trend reversal, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in the Indian equity market on August 18, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) emerged as net buyers. As per the exchange data, FIIs net sold shares worth ₹1,706 crore, while DIIs net purchased stocks worth ₹470.79 crore.

Crude prices jump 3% on tight supply outlook

Brent and U.S. crude prices rose over 3% in overnight trade as stellar U.S. macro data and robust fuel consumption eased concerns about economic growth, brushing off worries about fuel demand outlook. However, looming fear about recession in the U.S. and China and a possible increase in output by oil production countries (OPEC+) limited the upmove.

In early Asian trading hours on Friday, the Brent oil for October delivery was down 0.16% at $96.44 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude September futures fell 0.12% to $90.39 a barrel.