Market Ahead Podcast, April 28: Top factors that could guide markets today

Stock-specific action following the Q4 earnings announcement by top Indian companies along with global cues and Covid-19 related developments are likely to guide the market action in Wednesday's session. At 7.40 am, SGX Nifty was ruling 23 points higher at 14,682, indicating a positive start for the benchmark indices. Some caution ahead of the US Fed policy outcome, however, cannot be ruled out.  

Meanwhile, India in the last 24 hours reported 3,62,770 fresh Covid cases, with deaths over 3,000 - both being the highest so far. It is for the seventh straight day that India has reported over 3 lakh Covid cases.

With the pandemic showing no signs of abating and strict restrictions imposed by states in place to curb the pandemic, findings by brokerage Nomura that India’s business activity likely suffered its steepest weekly fall in over a year in the seven days ended April 25, might not sit well with investors.

On the global market front, tepid results from Tesla and 3M weighed on Wall Street on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow ending near flat as investors focused on the wave of earnings reports from Microsoft, Alphabet and other corporate heavyweights.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01% while the S&P 500 lost 0.02% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.34%.

Asian stocks were steady in early trade following a renewed rise in Treasury yields to above 1.6% and a jump in commodity prices, with investors also cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision.

Japan’s Topix Index rose 0.2%, South Korea’s Kospi Index was down 0.9% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index was steady.

That apart, OPEC, Russia and their allies agreed to stick to plans to raise output slightly from May 1, suggesting they don't see a lasting impact on demand from India's coronavirus crisis. Brent crude ended the session up 1.2% at $66.42 a barrel after climbing to a session high of $66.51. In early trade, Brent was trading 0.3% lower at $66.17.

Now, a look at the stock-specific triggers that are likely to guide the market today

A total of 21 companies are slated to post their March quarter results today including Bajaj Finserv, Biocon, Mastek and Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing.

Axis Bank reported a return to profit at Rs 2,677 crore in the quarter ended March 2021 due to a sharp fall in provisions. The lender had reported a standalone net loss of Rs 1,388 crore in the year-ago period.

FMCG major Britannia Industries reported a 3 per cent YoY decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 360.07 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, impacted by rising in commodity prices. It was after 6 quarters that Britannia reported a decline in profit.

Bajaj Finance's consolidated profit jumped 42 per cent YoY to Rs 1,347 crore for the fourth quarter of the fiscal ended March 2021. The company's net profit stood at Rs 948 crore in the January-March period of the preceding fiscal year 2019-20.

Info Edge said it will sell stake worth Rs 750 crore in the initial public offering (IPO) of its investee company Zomato.