Sensex, Nifty Seen Tad Higher At Open Despite Muted Global Cues

Indian shares look set to open a tad higher on Monday as investors react to Reliance and ICICI Bank’s better-than-expected earnings results.

ACC, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, UltraTech and Wipro are among the prominent companies that will unveil their financial results as the week progresses.

Trading may turn volatile later in the week due to the scheduled expiry of April month derivative contracts.

Key benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended narrowly mixed last week following disappointing quarterly earnings results from TCS and Infosys.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth straight day on Friday and offloaded equities worth Rs 2,116.76 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,632.66 crore, stock exchange data showed.

“There is a rising probability since the second half of 2022-23 that the Indian economy is transiting away from the high regime,” RBI staff said in a paper.

Asian markets were mostly lower in lackluster trade this morning, as investors await cues from more U.S. earnings and the policy announcements by the U.S. Fed and Bank of England in early May.

The dollar edged lower, with investor focus firmly on economic data releases and central bank meetings.

Oil traded lower on uncertainty over the global economic outlook, while gold held steady after slipping 1 percent on Friday.

U.S. stocks ended little changed on Friday, with the Dow snapping a four-week winning run amid mixed earnings results and recession fears.

The major U.S. averages all finished marginally higher as new data indicated a faster rise in business activity at U.S.-based firms in April.

European stocks rose on Friday, with sentiment helped by strong private sector activity data from the U.K. and euro zone.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.3 percent. The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 both gained around half a percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 percent.