Market Ahead Podcast, May 18: Top factors that could guide markets today

Tracking favourable cues from Asian peers and a further decline in fresh Covid cases in the country, Indian benchmark indices eyed a gap-up start to the session on Tuesday with SGX Nifty ruling 148 points higher at 15,093 around 7.15 am. Furthermore, stock-specific news flows and quarterly earnings are also likely to sway market mood.

India for the second consecutive day reported cases below the 3 lakh mark. The fresh case count in the last 24 hours stood at 2.63 lakh versus 2.81 lakh on Monday. Although, the total deaths recorded were the highest since the pandemic began at 4,340. Analysts, however, feel that participants shouldn’t read much into a single-day fall and wait for a decisive break above 15,000 in Nifty.

Meanwhile, on the global market front, Wall Street ended lower overnight, weighed down by tech shares as signs of growing inflation worried investors about the potential for tighter monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.16%, the S&P 500 lost 0.25% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.38%.

Despite a weak close for US markets, Asian stocks and US futures rose as investors weighed the pace of growth as nations vaccinate and economies reopen against a pick-up in virus cases in the region.

Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.4%, Topix index rose 1.5%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.6% and Kospi index climbed 1.1%.

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

Tata Motors, Aarti Industries, Chalet Hotels, Canara Bank and Torrent Pharma are among 35 companies slated to post their March quarter results today.

Analysts expect Tata Motors to report a strong standalone performance, offset by modest performance in JLR. On a consolidated basis, they are pencilling in a 41 per cent YoY increase in the company's top-line and a profit of up to Rs 2,813 crore.

Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 759 crore in the fourth quarter of 2020-21 as against a loss of Rs 5,237 crore in the corresponding period of 2019-20. Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 145, down from Rs 166 sequentially and Rs 154 in the year-ago period.

Orient Cement logged an over two-fold jump in net profit at Rs 99.87 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2021. It had posted a net profit of Rs 44.06 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago.

Shares of Reliance Industries will be in focus after the company's telecom arm Jio said it is constructing the largest international submarine cable system centred on India with global partners and submarine cable supplier Subcom to cater to increased data demand.

Drug firm Gland Pharma reported a 34 per cent YoY rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 260.4 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021, on account of robust sales. It had posted a net profit of Rs 194.8 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.