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

Wall Street indices ended lower overnight after US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he had halted negotiations for additional stimulus until after the election. Consequently, the Dow fell 1.34 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 1.4 per cent,  and the Nasdaq dropped 1.57 per cent. Yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that the world’s largest economy was in for a weak recovery without more fiscal support. Central bank watchers will get a more detailed look at board members’ views on the economy when the Fed releases its minutes today.

Asian stocks, meanwhile, were mixed to positive on Wednesday after recovery in Dow futures. Australia's ASX 200 was up 0.8 per cent, Hang Seng and Kospi gained 0.3 per cent each while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.3 per cent.

Back home, investors will focus on the Q2 results, stock-specific developments, and Covid related newsflow. 

At 7:30 AM, the SGX Nifty was trading 33 points up at around 11,710 levels, indicating a positive start for the domestic indices.

On the results front, TCS will today kickstart the September quarter earnings of the FY21 for the IT companies. The IT major will also consider share buyback today. Apart from that, Majesco, MIC Electronics, Unity Infraprojects and Zee Learn are also scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings today.

Reliance Industries may once again be in focus today after announcing that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority would invest Rs 5,512 crore into Reliance Retail Ventures for 1.2-per cent stake. Sources have told Business Standard that Reliance is expected to divest only a small stake of 10-15 per cent in Reliance Retail, the proceeds of which will be used to fund acquisitions.

Dixon Tech is expected to trade actively today after its arm Padget Electronics was selected by the Centre as one of the 16 proposals from marquee brands under two new flagship schemes, in a move expected to fetch Rs 11,000-crore additional investments in local electronics manufacturing.

The RBI monetary policy panel will hold meetings from today till Friday to arrive at a policy decision. The addition of three new members to the committee lends a dovish tilt to the central bank’s think tank on policy and as such they may keep rates unchanged, analysts say.

On the Covid front, India registered a rise of 72,106 in the number of new cases, taking the tally to 67.5 lakh. India's death toll stands at over 1 lakh. Meanwhile, media reports in the UK have said that the Oxford coronavirus vaccine might be rolled out in six months' time or even less.

And in the end, a quick look at other top news.

The government on Tuesday appointed Dinesh Kumar Khara as chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) for three years, effective today. Khara replaces Rajnish Kumar, who is stepping down after being at the helm for three years.

Bajaj Finance yesterday gave its quarterly business update. The NBFC said that it will continue to provisioning for the coronavirus pandemic in Q2 FY21 to strengthen its balance sheet. In Q1, the lender took an additional contingency provision of Rs 1,450 crore for the pandemic, taking the total amount to Rs 2,350 crore as of June 30.