Indian Shares May Open Flat Or Slightly Weak

Slightly lower SGX Nifty and the mixed trend in Asian markets point to a flat or marginally weak start for Indian stocks Wednesday morning.

Investors will continue to track earnings news and other corporate announcements for direction.

Automobile stocks will remain in focus with May vehicles sales data continuing to provide direction. Hero Motocorp Limited announced that it sold 1,83,044 units of two-wheelers in May 2021, against 1,12,682 units sold in May 2020.

ITC reported standalone profit of Rs 3,748.4 crore for the quarter ended March 2021, compared to Rs 3,797 crore reported in the year-ago quarter.

Motherson Sumi Systems, Panacea Biotec and Muthoot Finance are scheduled to announce their quarterly results today.

Higher crude oil prices may hurt sentiment and limit market’s upside.

The Indian market failed to hold early gains and ended flat on Tuesday after data showed India’s factory activity slowed significantly last month. The benchmark BSE Sensex ended down 2.56 points at 51,934.88, after posting gains in the previous five sessions. The broader NSE Nifty index slid 7.95 points to 15,574.85, snapping a seven-day winning streak.

U.S. stocks pared early gains and ended roughly flat on Tuesday. The initial strength came as upbeat manufacturing data from overseas added to optimism about the outlook for the global economy. The major averages ended mixed, with the Dow closing 0.1 percent up, and the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both edging down by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets closed on a strong note overnight. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.