Market Ahead, January 15: Top factors that could guide markets today

While US stocks spent most of the trading session in positive territory, helped by the stimulus hopes, some concerns about the details of the package and bleak US jobs data led to a modest decline towards the end of Wall Street trade.
 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.22 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.38 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.12 per cent. Consequently, Asian stocks and US equity futures too retreated in early Friday trade as investors scrutinized President-elect Joe Biden’s much-anticipated $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan.

With few surprises to catch investors off guard, Biden’s proposal includes a wave of new spending, more direct payments to households, an expansion of jobless benefits and enlargement of vaccinations and virus-testing programs.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1 per cent, Japan’s Topix dropped 0.3 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.2 per cent. However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, in oil markets, prices perked up on upbeat Chinese trade figures and traded at 10-month high levels. Brent futures traded unchanged at $56.42 a barrel, after rising 0.6 per cent on Thursday.

A weak global setup and elevated crude prices gave bears enough ammunition, and Indian markets looked set for a tepid start to Friday's trade. SGX Nifty futures traded 60 points down at 14,563 around 7.30 am.

In other news, the Budget session of Parliament will commence from January 29, with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present the Union Budget on February 1. 

Now, a look at the stock-specific developments that are likely to sway the market today:

HCL Tech, L&T Finance, PVR among 16 other firms set to announce their December quarter results today. Most analysts see a 5-6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in HCL Tech's Q3 revenue, led by broad-based growth across verticals and geographies, and easing of stress in the ER&D segment. HCL Tech's profit after tax could rise between 2 per cent and 5.5 per cent YoY but could decline or stay flat sequentially, according to brokerages.
 

MSCI on Thursday said it would decide on increasing the weight of Bharti Airtel during its upcoming index review in February.

Indiabulls Housing Finance has begun talks with a few private equity (PE) investors such as Apollo Global, TPG, and Brookfield for selling a significant stake. The deal value is being pegged at Rs 2,000 crore, a Business Standard report said.

HFCL, on Thursday, posted nearly 87 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the December quarter at Rs 85.1 crore and projected an "optimistic" outlook.

SAIL OFS would open for retail investors today. The quota for non-retail investors was subscribed 3.6 times on the first day of its opening on Thursday. Over 74.74 crore shares were sought by non-retail investors at the close of trading hours, stock exchange data showed.