Market Ahead, July 7: Top factors that could guide markets today

In the absence of any major domestic trigger, investors will today track global cues and stock-specific developments for market direction. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose 1.6 per cent each overnight and the Nasdaq hit a fresh all-time high on a sharp rebound in US services industry activity in June, while the trend in Asian stocks was mixed.

Australian ASX200 climbed 0.16 per cent, but Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.5 per cent. Korea's Kospi was also trading 0.2 per cent lower in Tuesday's early deals. As such, the SGX Nifty, which was earlier trading with minor gains slipped into the red. Going by the SGX trends at 7:10, investors can expect the Nifty to open some 30-40 points lower at 10,730 levels.

In commodities, Brent crude was last trading at $42.95 per dollar.

Besides, the reports that the Chinese troops have withdrawn about 2 km into China's side of the Line of Actual Control might help ease investor concern over a possible escalation in India-China border conflict. The latest development comes a day after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke on the phone to China’s State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi.

On the other hand, the trend in Covid-19 cases show no signs of slowing, which might cap the gains. With 23,932 new cases, India's total number of Covid-19 cases now stands at 7.2 lakh with 20,174 deaths, according to Worldometer. Globally, over 1.1 crore people have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

On the results front, a total of 24 companies are scheduled to announce their March quarter earnings today.

Shriram Transport Finance Company might trade actively today after the company okayed rights issue of equity shares to the promoters and promoter group to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore.

Besides, market participants will track the Rupee's trajectory, foreign fund flow, and the oil price movement throughout the session.

The Ficci-Dhruva Advisors industry survey of over 100 top corporate executives from across sectors says that business performance has shown initial signs of improvement. The results show that presently close to 30 per cent of the firms are operating at 70 per cent plus capacity utilisation. In terms of the challenges that firms foresee they will continue to face even during the unlocking phase, managing costs, weak demand and financial liquidity remain the top three items.

Wireless revenues of telecom companies Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd are expected to fall during the first quarter of current fiscal on account of the nationwide lockdown, according to a report by Emkay Global. The lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic, led to delayed recharges, fewer subscriber additions, and the absence of international roaming revenues for telcos, the report said.

State-owned Punjab National Bank on Monday said its board will consider a proposal to raise capital through a mix of both equity and debt on July 9.