Market Ahead, September 30: Top factors that could steer markets this week

Markets are expected to remain in the consolidation-mode, as investors watch out for key micro and macro-level developments through the week.

During the truncated week, market participants would, first, eye the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate decision. The MPC, which is scheduled to meet on Oct 1, 3 and 4th, will announce its decision on the last day of the meeting. After a cut in the corporate tax rate by the Finance Minister, investors await whether or not the Central bank would change its stance and decide to cut short the rate cut cycle.

Further, auto and cement sales data, for the month of September, would be released through the week, starting Tuesday, which could keep auto and cement stocks volatile.

That apart, Infrastructure output for August, fiscal deficit for April-August period, and current account deficit and external debt for April-June quarter will be announced on Monday. 

Moreover, Manufacturing PMI for September month will be declared on Tuesday while Services PMI for September will be released on Friday.

Globally, investors would eye progress in the US-China trade talks. Delegations from both the sides are likely to meet on Oct 10 and any development ahead of it would be keenly watched.

Besides, the movement of rupee against the dollar, Brent crude oil price movement and investments by FPIs and DIIs will also be watched.

Given all these developments, analysts advise investors to adopt a stock-specific trading approach and focus more on the index majors for short term trades.

For today, investors should keep an eye on Reliance Annual General Meeting. In what is probably the first for any major corporation, the resolution professional for Reliance Communications will chair and address the shareholders on Monday. The AGMs of Reliance Capital, Reliance Infra, Reliance Power, Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Communication are slated for Monday.

Also, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the online ticketing, tourism and the catering arm of the railways, is scheduled to launch its IPO on Monday. The IPO is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) where 2.01 crore equity shares will be put on the block.

Trends on SGX Nifty were suggesting a quiet start for the domestic indices.

On the global front, Asian shares were off to a cautious start on Monday as reports that the U.S. administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from the U.S. stock exchanges kept investors on the sidelines.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.11% while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.61%.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite slipped over 1 per cent during the overnight trade on Friday, the S&P500 dipped 0.53%, and the Dow Jones closed 0.26% lower. 

Back home, The S&P BSE Sensex lost 167 points or 0.43% to settle at 38,822 level while the Nifty50 index closed at 11,512-mark, down 59 points or 0.51%.

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