Market Ahead, July 29: Top factors that could guide markets today

The Indian markets are likely to open mildly higher today. The SGX Nifty was trading at 11,306 levels, up 20 points at 7 AM on the back of mixed cues in Asian equities. Australian ASX 200 rose 0.2 per cent and Korea's Kospi was up half a per cent while Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.5 per cent in early deals. Wall Street, on the other hand, closed lower overnight amid an impasse in US economic stimulus negotiations while investors were anticipating the US Federal Reserve’s Wednesday wrap-up of its two day policy meeting. The Dow Jones fell 0.77 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.65 per cent, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.27 per cent.

In commodities, Brent crude was trading 0.58 per cent higher at $43.47 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the expiry of derivative contracts of the July series tomorrow may keep today's session volatile. Besides, corporate results announcement by a total of 180 companies including Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, and InterGlobe Aviation will keep traders busy today.

Analysts expect Bharti Airtel to post a loss of as much as Rs 318.9 crore as compared to Rs 5,236.9 crore loss reported in Q4FY20. Revenue growth for the quarter, however, is likely to remain flat with India non-wireless revenues traction remaining robust.

Maruti Suzuki is expected to report a net loss of up to Rs 750 crore led by a massive decline in volumes due to the Covid-19-triggered lockdown.

Investors will also react to the quarterly numbers announced by companies after market hours yesterday. IndusInd Bank reported a 68 per cent YoY fall in its net profit to Rs 460.4 crore in the first quarter, due to additional provisioning for Covid. Moreover, the bank has got approval to raise Rs 3,288 crore through preferential issue of fully paid-up shares..

YES Bank posted a net profit of Rs 45.44 crore for the quarter against a net profit of Rs 113.76 crore in Q1FY20.

On the Covid-19 front, India's tally of cases has now exceeded the 15 lakh mark after the addition of over 46,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to Worldometer. The country's current Covid-19 death toll stands at 34,224.

Apart from this, market participants will also track Prime Minister Narendra Modi's virtual meeting with the chief executives of state-owned and private banks today. The PM is expected to discuss credit flow to the economy, especially the MSMEs, and map the progress of the government’s Covid-19 package.

ITC might trade actively in today's session after it acquired 100 per cent equity stake of Sunrise for Rs 2,150 crore on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

And, now, a quick look at other top news.

Mindspace Business Parks REIT IPO garnered full subscription on Tuesday, a day before its close. The 67.7-million unit offering has garnered bids for 71.9 million units.

Certain media reports have said that Reliance Industries will pay between Rs 24,000 crore and Rs 27,000 crore to buy the Indian retail chains owned by Future Group.

And, the Railways yesterday said it was staring at a Rs 35,000 crore-40,000 crore reduction in earnings from the passenger segment this fiscal due to the coronavirus pandemic and is trying to augment freight revenue to make up for the loss.