Indices to open on a flat note

The outlook is a flat to positive start. Global cues are upbeat for now. 

Nature unleashed its fury over the weekend with a massive earthquake rocking Nepal on Saturday. After shocks continued in some parts of India too even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured absolute help to Nepal. 

Reports state Indian companies operating in Nepal have not seen any major impact on their operations.   The outlook is a flat to positive start. Global cues are upbeat for now.  

US indices clocked marginal gains on Friday. Asian markets are up with Nikkei gaining half a percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is up over a percent. China's Shanghai index is up almost 2%. Globally, the US Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting could keep investors on tenterhooks while futures and option (F&O) expiry and a truncated week could bring in the swings. 

  

This week, the next batch of quarterly corporate results, investment activity of FIIs, movement in local currency and global markets will determine the near term trend on the domestic bourses.  ICICI Bank, Maruti and JSW Energy results will be in focus.

Among the earnings, we expect Bharti Airtel to report 2.3% qoq growth driven by India wireless business with ~2.5% qoq traffic growth and marginal voice pricing improvement while expectations from Africa remain muted after several quarters of revenue and margin disappointment; currency headwinds (Nigerian currency depreciation) would further hamper growth.   

Dabur India Ltd said its factory building has developed cracks but there is no loss to life or property. “There has been no impact on our operations in Nepal because of the earthquake. The factory building has developed some cracks, but it will not impact operations. There is no loss of life or property,” Dabur India Ltd spokesperson was quoted as saying.   GIC will bear the brunt of the Nepal earthquake that has caused widespread damage to industrial and commercial property. 

"We are the largest international reinsurer in the Nepal market and we have sent a team of 10 surveyors to assess the loss," said AK Roy, chairman and managing director GIC Re, which accounts for about a quarter of the total insurance in the Himalayan country, says a report.  

The Government tabled the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the Lok Sabha, amidst pandemonium of opposition members. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the bill is a ‘win-win’ situation for all the stakeholders. 

Google Inc announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.“Google’s first quarter revenue was $17.3 billion, up 12% year on year. Excluding the net impact of foreign currency headwinds, revenue grew a healthy 17% year on year,” said Patrick Pichette, CFO of Google.   

In a written reply to Lok Sabha (LS), Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has said that Income Tax department has issued notices to as many as 68 cases related to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), to ensure that they pay up the total tax demand of Rs 602.83 crore. 

Infosys was the biggest percentage loser in the Nifty-50. The stock registered its biggest single-day percentage loss since 13 March, 2014. The stock ended 6 percent lower at Rs. 1,993.   

Advanta plunged 10% to Rs. 469 on the back of lower-than-expected earnings growth.    Crisil zoomed to a high of Rs. 2,338 after the company announced that its board meet is scheduled to meet on 28 April, 2015 to consider the proposal for buy-back of shares.    Crompton Greaves declined nearly 3% to Rs. 164 after the company announced its plan to sell its consumer products business to private equity firms Advent International and Temasek.   Gujarat Gas succumbed to profit-taking, as the stock slipped over 7% to Rs. 707, despite twin positive news. The company reported a steady 27.2 percent jump in Q4 net profit at Rs. 62.67 crore on a year-on-year basis.    

Cyient soared to a high of Rs. 544 on news reports that the company is eyeing for an acquisition in the aerospace sector. DLF extended its losses and was down 4% at Rs. 131 after the Supreme Court issued fresh summons in response to a plea by Sebi challenging the SAT ruling.    

Reliance Capital ended lower at Rs.419.According to a release issued by the company to the BSE, Reliance Capital Asset Management announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Strategic Alliance with Samsung Asset Management, Korea.   

Sasken Communications tumbled nearly 6% to Rs. 233.The company's Q4 net profit fell sharply by nearly 68 percent to Rs. 2.92 crore when compared with Rs. 9.07 crore in Q4FY14.    

Walmart India, wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart Stores Inc., is all set to grow aggressively in the next five years with its Cash and Carry and the B2B e-commerce businesses across the country.