Market Ahead Podcast, May 4: Top factors that could guide markets today

The S&P 500 and the Dow indices ended higher on Monday amid a largely upbeat earnings season, while the Nasdaq came under pressure from declines in some high-flying growth stocks, as the rotation into cyclical and “reopening” stocks continued.  

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.71%, the S&P 500 gained 0.27% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.48%.

Meanwhile, in Asia, stocks traded mixed and US equity futures retreated in the wake of a dip in technology giants on Wall Street. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.4% and US futures declined 0.2%.

Amid a mixed global setup, Indian markets too seemed indecisive as SGX Nifty was ruling only 17 points lower at 14,665, indicating a flat start to the day. Besides global cues, stock-specific moves amid quarterly earnings and development on the Covid and vaccine front could further sway market trajectory.

India for the third day in a row reported a decline in fresh cases although the figure stayed above the 3.5 lakh mark. Meanwhile, poor progress on the vaccination front also remains a concern for investors.

While the central government has launched the third phase of the immunisation drive, for citizens above 18 years, several states have expressed their inability to conduct the inoculation programme as they do not have sufficient vaccines. Amid this, Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar Poonawalla, whose company manufactures Covishield, has suggested that India’s Covid-19 vaccine shortage could continue through July.

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

Adani Ports, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Adani Total Gas, IIFL Securities, Larsen & Toubro Infotech and Suven Life Sciences are among 20 companies slated to post their March quarter results today.

JSW Energy said its arm JSW Renew Energy has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the supply of 540 MW of blended wind power capacity. The PPA is signed with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Tata Chemicals reported a sharp decline in consolidated profit to Rs 29.26 crore in Q4FY21 as against Rs 197.56 crore in Q4FY20.

RBI has imposed a Rs 3 crore penalty ICICI Bank for contravention of prudential norms for classification, valuation and operation of the investment portfolio of banks. RBI found contravention of norms in an instance where the bank shifted securities from one category to another.

Lastly, an update on the primary market.

The initial public offer (IPO) by PowerGrid InvIT IPO was subscribed 4.83 times on the final day of the bidding process. The public issue has received bids for 205.47 crore units against an offer size of 42.54 crore units, data available on exchanges shows.