Sensex, Nifty to open flat with negative bias

WPI data and earnings will continue to be on investors’ radar this week. The results scheduled today are Piramal Enterprises, JK Tyre & Industries, Petronet LNG, Strides Shasun, NBCC, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Tata Coffee and Mangalam Drugs & Organics.

As elections get underway today in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory Puducherry, the BJP will hope to make some inroads in these mini-elections. Weak macroeconomic data dimmed hopes of rate cut next month and that kept market under pressure on Friday. Consumer price inflation, which RBI targets in setting interest rates, rose at a faster-than-expected rate to 5.39% last month in comparison to 4.83% in March. Also, apprehension over tax on capital gains made through P-Notes (Mauritius) has negatively impacted the market. Nifty managed to gain 1% last week to close above 7800 despite factory output clocking marginal 0.1% growth in March.

The outlook is a flat start with a negative bias in early trade. There could be jitters regarding the monsoon after the latest report of the India Meteorological Department indicated that there could be a likely delay in the onset of the Southwest monsoon over Kerala by a week. IMD expects rains to hit Kerala coast on June 7. The results of assembly polls in five states will be announced later this week. WPI data and earnings will continue to be on investors’ radar this week. The results scheduled today are Piramal Enterprises, JK Tyre & Industries, Petronet LNG, Strides Shasun, NBCC, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Tata Coffee and Mangalam Drugs & Organics.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said there was no ‘serious apprehension’ of investors shifting base to other tax havens and he sees no depletion in FDI flows due to amendments in the treaty with Mauritius, says a report. .

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has said the Employees Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO ) may invest more than Rs 6,000 crore in equity market during the current financial year.  Last year, EPFO had invested about Rs 6,000 crore through SBI Mutual Fund's two index-linked ETFs (exchange-traded funds) -- one to BSE's Sensex and the other NSE's Nifty, says a report.