Market Ahead, July 23: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Corporate earnings will continue to be the biggest factor in shaping the market direction today while investors will also look out for global and other domestic cues.

About 46 companies, including Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises, are scheduled to declare their June quarter results today. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is expected to post steady numbers for Q1FY20 owing to its shift towards natural products and increasing premiumisation amid slowdown in the consumption space. You can read our full preview on what analysts expect from HUL on our website.

Investors will also react to major results announced yesterday after market hours. TVS Motor Company reported a 3 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 142.30 crore for the first quarter ended June 30 as compared to a net profit of Rs 146.61 crore in the year-ago period.

Additionally, market participants will continue to track the progress in monsoon, oil price, and the movement of rupee against the US dollar.

Benchmark indices extended their losing streak on Monday. The S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.8 per cent to settle at 38,031, while the broader Nifty50 index slipped 0.72 per cent to 11,337 levels. 

Now, let's see how the global markets have fared overnight and they mean for Sensex and Nifty

Expectations of policy easing by the Federal Reserve propped up US stocks on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 edging up towards a record high overnight. Asia followed suit. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.02 per cent. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.25 per cent, while South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.2 per cent.

SGX Nifty is also indicating a positive start for the domestic indices.

Let's go through top headlines for the day -- 

DHFL filed its audited results for the March quarter yesterday, and revealed that its auditors had raised several red flags around its numbers.

The National Housing Bank has asked housing finance companies to desist from offering loans that involve servicing by builders on behalf of borrowers

As per a Business Standard report, IndiGo promoter Rahul Bhatia may meet SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi later this week. 

And finally, here's a stock call by Prabhudas Liladher. The brokerage is bullish on Reliance Industries and says traders can look to initiate longs at current levels for a target of Rs 1385 and the stop loss should be fixed at Rs 1220.