Soft opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; Vodafone Idea, Adani Ports, Cipla, PNB, Wipro shares eyed

Indian equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are expected to open on a subdued note on Wednesday, following mixed cues from global peers, as looming fear about aggressive rate hikes weighed on investors’ sentiments. The soft trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a muted opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 20 points, or 0.12%, lower at 16,191 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:20 AM. The persistent concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, soaring inflation, interest rate hikes, Covid-19 cases, and crude prices rattled equity markets across the globe.

On Monday, the domestic bourses extended losing streak for the third straight session, weighed down by losses in index heavyweights such as Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma. The BSE Sensex ended 106 points or 0.19% lower at 54,365, while the NSE Nifty dropped 62 points or 0.38% to finish at 16,240. The broader market witnessed sharp sell-off, with the BSE smallcap and the midcap index falling 2.11% and 1.98%, respectively. Among sectors, metal index declined the most, followed by utilities, power, realty, basic materials, and energy.

Shares to focus

Vodafone Idea: The telecom operator on Tuesday reported a consolidated net loss of 6,563 crore in the fourth quarter, down from ₹7,023 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Revenue of the company rose 6.46% year-on-year to ₹10,240 crore during the quarter ended March 2022, aided by tariff hikes announced in November last year.

Asian Paints: The paint company has reported a net profit of ₹850.42 for the January-March quarter, lower than market expectations, primarily on account of a one-time loss in its Sri Lanka business amid the crisis in the neighbouring country. Asian Paints net profit during the year-ago period Q4 FY21) was ₹852.13 crore.

Cipla: The drug major has posted a 12.4% fall in net profit for the fourth quarter of the fiscal 2021-22 to ₹362 crore due to impact of impairments. The revenue for the quarter rose 14.2% to ₹5,260 crore.

Max Financial Services: The company has posted a two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at ₹144 crore for the March quarter of 2021-22, compared to ₹70 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenues declined to ₹8,962 crore in the quarter from ₹9,760 crore in Q4 of the previous financial year.

Wipro: The IT major has signed a deal with Crédit Agricole CIB, the corporate and investment bank division of Crédit Agricole Group, to support its IT infrastructure transformation.

MRF: The tyre major has reported a 50.26% YoY decline in consolidated profit from continuing operations to ₹165.21 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2022, dented by higher expenses, especially raw materials. The consolidated revenue from operations rose to ₹5,304.82 crore as against ₹4,816.46 crore a year ago.

ICICI Bank: The private sector lender has entered into a deal with Santander bank in Britain to facilitate the banking requirements of corporates operating across both countries.

Polycab India: The wires and cables manufacturer has reported a 20% YoY growth in net profit to Rs 325.33 crore for the fourth quarter ending March 31, 2022, versus Rs 271.06 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations increased 34.90% to Rs 3,969.98 crore compared to Rs 2,942.74 crore a year ago.

Gujarat Gas Limited (GGL): The city gas distribution (CGD) company reported a 28% growth in its consolidated net profit at ₹444.39 crore for Q4 of FY22 as against ₹348.29 crore for Q4 of FY21. Total consolidated income rose 36% YoY to ₹4,791.04 crore.

Ajanta Pharma: The drug maker on Tuesday reported 5% drop in consolidated profit after tax to ₹151 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2022, compared with ₹159 crore in the January-March quarter of 2020-21 fiscal.

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

Wall Street ends mixed

In the overnight trade, the U.S. indices closed on a mixed note, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising, reversing some of the previous session losses, while the Dow Jones extended its losing streak. Investors remained on edge ahead of the inflation data slated to be released tonight. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%.

Asian stocks mostly rise

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly higher in opening deals on Wednesday, following mixed closing on Wall Street overnight as investors weighed the impact of higher interest rates on global economic growth.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.35%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rallied 1.2%, and South Korea’s KOSPI traded marginally higher.

Bucking the trend, the Straits Times Index in Singapore dropped 0.6%, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.2%, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite slipped 0.3%, and Taiwan’s Weighted index tumbled 0.6%.

In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component and the Shanghai Composite rallied 2.5% and 1.3%, respectively.

Oil prices rebound 1% on supply concerns

The price of Brent and U.S. crude rose over 1% in early trade on Wednesday as impending European Union sanctions on Russian oil raised concerns about tighter supply. However, bleak demand outlook in the backdrop of strict lockdown measures in China eased some concerns. In Asian trading hours on Wednesday, the Brent oil for July delivery was up 1.5% at $104.05 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude June futures rose 1.5% to $101.2 a barrel.

FIIs turn net sellers, DIIs remain net buyers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian equity market on May 10, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to support the market. As per the exchange data, FIIs net sold shares worth ₹3,960.6 crore, while DIIs net purchased shares worth ₹ 2,958.4 crore.

Corporate earnings

The companies that are slated to release their earnings numbers today include Adani Ports, Balaji Amines, Birla Corporation, Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances, Century Enka, Cholamandalam Financial Holdings, DIC India, HSIL, JSW Ispat Special Products, Kalyan Jewellers India, Kennametal India, KSB, Lakshmi Machine Works, Lloyds Steels Industries, NCC, Indian Bank, Skipper, Punjab National Bank, Prism Johnson, Petronet LNG, Relaxo Footwears, Sagar Cements, SKF India, and others.