Market Ahead Podcast, Oct 13: Top factors that could guide markets today

After a volatile session on Tuesday that saw the Sensex and Nifty end with minor gains, the movement on Wednesday - and thereafter - is likely to remain stock-specific as more companies announce their September quarter results.

The Sensex index ended at 60,284 levels, up 148 points, while the Nifty shut shop at 17,992, up 46 points.

While markets will take note of the CPI inflation and August industrial output numbers announced on Tuesday, the bulk of the spotlight on Wednesday will be on the IT stocks, as Infosys and Wipro announce earnings.

Analysts expect a near 20 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue for Infosys in the recently concluded quarter on contribution from Daimler deal, higher adoption of digital transformation by clients, anticipated broad-based growth across verticals, and strong seasonality. Revenue guidance is likely to be upped for the third time in a row. Net profit jump, meanwhile, could range between 7-10 per cent.

For Wipro, revenue projections range between 25 per cent and 29 per cent on a year-on-year. Revenue growth, analysts say, will be driven by the ramp-up of large deals along with contribution from Capco and Ampion acquisitions.

Corporate results apart, rising Crude Oil prices, which breached dollar 84 per barrel mark on Tuesday and the potential threat of a power crisis back home due to coal shortage issues can also have a bearing on the market sentiment in the near term.

Meanwhile, India’s equity market is on the cusp of overtaking that of the U.K. in market capitalisation. India’s market capitalisation has surged 37 per cent this year to $3.46 trillion, according to an index compiled by Bloomberg. That’s closing in on the U.K., which has seen an increase of about 9 per cent to $3.59 trillion, though the number is much larger if secondary listings and depositary receipts are included. The Sensex and the Nifty had hit the 60,000 mark and 18,000 levels in trade recently.