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

Tracking a firm set of cues from global peers, Indian markets too looked set to open higher today, with SGX Nifty ruling 71 points up at 14,868 around 7.15 am. However, another record jump in fresh Covid cases in the country could cap gains for the index. Quarterly numbers and stock-specific triggers could also sway the market trajectory.

India in the last 24 hours reported a record over 4.14 lakh fresh Covid cases while the death toll stood at 3,927. It for the second day in a row that India has reported cases over 4 lakh.

But a mathematical model prepared by advisers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggests India’s coronavirus outbreak could peak soon by mid-May, in line with the forecasts by some other scientists.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the recent jump in Covid-19 cases in India poses downside risks to the Fund's April forecast for 12.5% growth in India's economic output in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, and the IMF will revisit the same when it issues a fresh World Economic Outlook in July.

On the global market front, US markets closed higher, bolstered by an upbeat weekly jobless claims report. The Dow clocked record closing high as it ended 0.93% up, while the S&P 500 gained 0.82%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.37%.

Asian stocks, too, headed higher after rallies in US indices. Japan’s Topix Index climbed 0.5%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.7% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5%.

Now, a look at the stock-specific triggers that are likely to guide the market today

A total of 25 companies are slated to post their March quarter numbers today, including HDFC, UltraTech Cement, Dabur India and Kansai Nerolac Paints.

Backed by a strong individual loan book, healthy net interest income (NII), and fewer provisions, Street expects mortgage lender HDFC to report a nearly 50 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit for the March quarter of FY21 (Q4FY21).

Tata Consumer Products reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 53.9 crore for the March quarter of FY21 as against a net loss of Rs 76.5 crore in the same quarter during the preceding fiscal. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter surged 26 per cent YoY to Rs 3,037.2 crore.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd reported a 38.2 per cent YoY increase in net profit to Rs 865 crore for the quarter ended March 31, as sales of its motorcycles and scooters improved on a low base of the year period and rise in demand for entry-level motorcycles in the rural and semi-urban markets.

UK-based fintech company, Infinity Circle, has selected Zensar Technologies for the end-to-end development of its next-gen wealth management platform.

Adani Transmission's March quarter consolidated profit more than doubled to Rs 238.42 crore from Rs 94.30 crore posted in the same period last year.