The Indian markets are likely to open higher today. At 7:10 AM, the SGX Nifty was trading 42 points higher at 10,725 levels after a rally in US shares overnight. Technology stocks lifted the Nasdaq 1.44 per cent on the index's way to its fourth record closing high in five days. The Dow Jones rose 0.68 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.78 per cent.
Asian indices also ticked up in Thursday's early deals. Australian ASX 200 was last up 0.9 per cent while Japan's Nikkei added 0.3 per cent.
A major focus today will be on TCS which is scheduled to kick-off the April-June 2020 earnings season for IT companies today. According to analysts, the company may post up to 7 per cent decline in revenue in constant currency (CC) terms on a sequential basis owing to anticipated pressure in multiple segments due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
Besides, 19 other companies including Arvind Fashions, Sadbhav Engineering are set to announce their quarterly numbers today.
On Covid-19 front, the total cases in India has now increased to 7.69 lakh with 21,144 deaths. Globally, over 12 million people around the world have been diagnosed with Covid-19.
ICICI Bank might trade actively in today's session after its board approved plan to raise upto Rs 15,000 crore to support business growth and create a buffer to absorb any shocks from economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides these, investors will also keep an eye on the newsflow regarding China-US tensions over Tibet. They will also track the Rupee's trajectory and oil price movement.
And now, a quick look at other top headlines.
A sharp global rally in gold on Wednesday pushed the spot price in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazar to a new all-time high of Rs 48,925 per 10 gram.
The Karnataka High Court yesterday gave a preliminary hearing to the matter pertaining to wind-up of schemes by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, and said the matter would be heard on priority in order to complete the hearing within three months.
The sharp downward revision in growth projections by various national and international agencies indicates the impact of the coronavirus-induced lockdown and inadequate stimulus package, EY said on Wednesday, adding that June economic indicators including PMI manufacturing and services data, GST collections, and forex reserves have showed some improvement.
IRB Infrastructure Developers on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 150 crore through allotment of NCDs on a private placement basis. Dilip Buildcon, in a separate filing, said it has raised Rs 200 crore via NCDs.
SBI yesterday got its board's approval to invest a maximum of Rs 1,760 crore in private lender YES Bank’s follow-on public offer. The public sector lender already holds 48.21 per cent in YES Bank.
The Union government has shelved the merger of three ailing public sector general insurance companies Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, and United India Insurance, saying the focus will be on making them profitable instead. The Cabinet also approved capital infusion of Rs 12,450 crore into the three firms.
Inflow into equity mutual funds slumped 95 per cent to a little over Rs 240 crore in June as investors pulled out from large-cap and multi-cap funds, data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed. This is the third consecutive monthly decline in inflow in equity mutual funds.
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