Sensex, Nifty to open in red; Wipro, YES Bank, Maruti, HDFC shares in focus

Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are set to fall in opening trade on Monday, tracking weak cues from global equities amid fears of an aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The negative trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-down opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 218 points, or 1.3%, lower at 16,908 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:30 AM. Investors will keep a close eye on corporate earnings reports with some major companies such as HDFC, IDBI Bank, Adani Wilmar, Castrol India, Britannia Industries, and Alembic Pharmaceuticals set to release their March quarter results today.

Last week, the domestic bourses ended the volatile week lower as concerns about a higher-than-expected rise in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Covid-19 lockdown in China dented market sentiments. The BSE benchmark Sensex settled the week 0.24% lower at 57,061, while the NSE Nifty index fell 0.40% to 17,102 during the same period. Among individual stocks, Coal India was the worst performer, followed by BPCL, Apollo Hospitals and Axis Bank. On the sectoral front, the telecom index declined the most, followed by oil & gas, metal, Information Technology and TECk. On Friday, the 30-share Sensex ended 460 points lower at 57,061, while 50-share Nifty tanked 142.50 points to 17,102.

Stocks to focus:

Auto stocks: Shares of automobile companies will be in focus as they will release sales figures for the month of April.

Wipro: The IT major has reported consolidated net profit of ₹3,087 crore for the Jan-March quarter of FY22, a 3.8% year-on-year rise over ₹2,972 crore profit booked during the same period last year. Revenue grew 28% to ₹20,860 crore as compared to ₹16,245 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. The company’s board declared an interim dividend of ₹1 and ₹5 on January 14 and March 25, 2022, which will be considered as the final dividend for the financial year 2021-22.

Maruti Suzuki: The country’s largest car maker has posted a rise of 57.7% in profit after tax at ₹1,838.9 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared to ₹1,166.1 crore in the year-ago period. The company's sales volume, however, dip 0.7% during the March quarter to 488,830 units, compared to 492,235 units in the corresponding quarter last year.

YES Bank: The private sector lender has reported a net profit of ₹367 crore in the January-March quarter compared to a loss of ₹3,788 crore in the year-ago period. The net interest income of the lender increased by 84% YoY to ₹1,819 crore in Q4 FY22.

Cochin Shipyard: The company will develop and build the first indigenous hydrogen-fuelled electric vessels in collaboration with Indian partners, keeping pace with the global maritime green transitions.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA): The state-owned company has posted an all-time high profit of ₹634 crore for 2021-22, up 82.88% as compared to the previous year's.

IDFC First Bank: The private sector lender has reported 168% year-on-year growth in net profit at ₹342 crore for the quarter ended March 2022, driven by strong growth in core operating income and lower provisioning. Net interest income jumped 36% YoY to ₹2,669 crore in Q4 FY22.

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

Amazon, inflation concerns drag Wall Street lower

On Friday, all three major U.S. indices closed lower as fall in Amazon shares post earnings report and record surge in inflation triggered sell-off in the market. Amazon stock dived 14%, its highest one-day drop since 2006, after it released March quarter earnings and outlook, which fell short of market expectation. The policy setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will hold its two-day meeting on Tuesday, and the central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by half a percentage point to combat inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.77% lower, while the S&P 500 tumbled 3.63%. In a similar trend, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 4.17%.

Asian stocks fall in early trade

Asian shares traded mostly lower in early trade on Monday, following weak cues from Wall Street as worries about aggressive policy stance by the Federal Reserve spooked market sentiments. Adding to it, concerns about the Covid-19 situation in China also injected negativity in the market. The market also witnessed low volume as most of Asian shares were closed for a holiday.

Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5% and South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.6%.

Meanwhile, most markets in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia are closed for a public holiday today.

FIIs remain net sellers, DIIs net buyers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian equity market on April 29, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to support the market. As per the exchange data, FIIs sold shares worth ₹3,648.30 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹3,490.30 crore.

FPIs withdraws ₹17,144 crore from Indian equities in April

Extending its selling streak for the seventh consecutive month, foreign investors withdrew ₹17,144 crore from the Indian equity market in April amid looming fear about an aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Fed and rise in commodity prices.

Corporate earnings

The major companies that are slated to release their earnings numbers today include HDFC, IDBI Bank, Adani Wilmar, Castrol India, Britannia Industries, and Alembic Pharmaceuticals. Among others, Astec Lifesciences, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Devyani International, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, EIH Associated Hotels, Inox Leisure, JBM Auto, Jindal Stainless, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India, Meghmani Organics, NGL Fine-Chem, Olectra Greentech, Saregama India, Shakti Pumps (India), and Surana Solar, will also unveil their March quarter results on May 2.