 "CPI, IIP data to dictate market trend; Tata Steel in focus")
Benchmark shares indices are likely to remain rangebound after a late surge in the previous session with key economic data on March consumer price inflation and Index of Industrial Production for February to be released later today.
At 8:30am, the early indicator SGX Nifty was down 5 points at 7,687.
Skymet, a non-government weather forecaster, said on Monday that the year's southwest monsoon should be slightly ‘above normal’, at 105 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).
Foreign investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 107 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.
STOCKS IN FOCUS
Tata Steel is likely to firm after the steel major on Monday signed an agreement to sell the loss-making 4.5-million tonne (mt) long-product Scunthorpe steel plant in Britain to UK-based investment firm Greybull Capital.
TTK Prestige may gain after it announced the acquisition of Horwood Homewares Limited in UK.
Tata Motors may extend gains on robust JLR sales. JLR's volumes grew 29 per cent year-on-year, with China sales up 43 per cent (about half came from the China joint venture).
L&T will be in focus following the withdrawal of the DRHP of Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited filed with with SEBI on April 11, 2016.
Hindalco will be in focus after US-based Alcoa reported weak earnings for the first quarter of 2016.
Agri-related stocks such as Jain Irrigation among others are likely to firm on the back of above normal monsoon forecast.
Tata Chemicals will be in focus after the company signed an MOU with Sanjana Cryogenics Storage Ltd (SCSL), its Ammonia Terminal Operator, for rerouting a portion of the ammonia pipeline that runs from the Haldia Dock to the Ammonia Storage tank.
Lyka Labs may see some action after Lyka Healthcare Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lyka Labs Limited, has launched two domestic marketing divisions in the name of ENSPAN and CERABELLE.
Bharat Petroleum may gain after the board plans to seek shareholders' consent by way of Postal Ballot for increasing the ceiling of Investment by Foreign Institutional Investors in the shareholding of the BPCL from 24% up to 49% in one or more tranches subject to regulatory authorities approval.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks were trading mixed with Japanese shares staging a smart recovery after a decline in early trades amid a stronger yen. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite was down 0.3% while Hang Seng was trading with marginal gains and Straits Times was trading flat.
US stocks came off their intra-day highs to end with marginal losses on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of the first quarter earnings. However, banking majors were among the top gainers. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 0.1% at 17,556, S&P 500 eased 0.3% at 2,042 while Nasdaq Composite settled 0.4% lower at 4,833.
