Sensex, Nifty to open on a positive note

Asian markets are trading mixed. The Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite trading lower by 0.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is marginally up.

The indices are set to open on a positive note. Asian markets are trading mixed. The Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite trading lower by 0.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is marginally up. Infosys too looks geared to implement the task of developing the GST portal. Of course the GST still has a few road-blocks which the government hopes to get through in the winter session of Parliament. State governments too have their share to do.

DHFL’s sale of retail inflation-linked bonds saw a record response on the first day.

US stocks closed slightly higher amid a sharp rebound in oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a seven-day slide to close up 0.23% at 18,355 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.31% to 2,163.78 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.43% to 5,159.74.Data showed the US private sector added 179,000 jobs in July, beating estimates of 170,000. The report comes ahead of the more comprehensive national payrolls report on Friday.

The Rajya Sabha approved the crucial 122nd Constitutional amendment to turn the bill into law. The Lok Sabha had already passed the key bill.

Government has imposed a penalty of Rs 2,313 crore on telecom operators for violating subscriber verification norms till May 31, telecom minister Manoj Sinha.

CCEA chaired by PM Narendra Modi has decided to extend the production subsidy to sugar mills to achieve expected performance in respect of export of sugar and supply of ethanol, as per media reports.

Among other stocks in focus:

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories: The pharma company has successfully completed the $350 million (around Rs.2,300 crore) acquisition of eight abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) in the US from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and an affiliate of Allergan Plc.

Logistics stocks in focus: Logistics stocks will be in focus after the Rajya Sabha approved the crucial 122nd Constitutional amendment to turn the GST bill into law.

Tata Power: The company will announce its Q1 numbers today. The company said it has raised Rs.3,500 crore through an issuance of unsecured, taxable, redeemable, non-cumulative, listed, rated and non-convertible debentures worth Rs.3,500 crore on a private placement basis.

Berger Paints: The company is looking to expand its Jejuri plant near Pune at an investment of Rs.100 crore by the next fiscal and also double revenue within five years.

Orient Cement: The company reported a net loss of Rs.7.6 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared with Rs.28.8 crore reported in the year-ago period.

NBCC: NBCC (India) Ltd has announced that the Company had secured work for construction of 30 bedded ESIC Hospital at Baltikuri.

Infra Company in focus: Cabinet approved Highway Monetisation Scheme.

Carborundum Universal: The company has approved a proposal for setting up a 21 MW Hydel Power Plant at Keerithodu, Idukki district, Kerala at Rs.1,250 million.

Capital First: Capital First Limited reported a Profit after Tax of Rs.49.2 crore for Q1 FY17, an increase of 49% from Rs.33.1 crore in Q1 FY16. 

Infosys: Infosys Ltd has announced investing $4 million (Rs.27 crore) in Cloudyn, an Israeli corporation, providing software as a service (Saas) solutions for the management and optimization of hybrid, multi-cloud deployments.

GATI: The logistic company will announce its Q1 numbers today.

Siemens: Siemens Ltd has announced that it has received order worth approximately Rs. 217 crore for Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited project.

NTPC: Fitch has affirmed NTPC Ltd a long-term local-currency IDR (Issuer Default Rating) of ‘BBB-’ and assigned ‘BBB-(emr)’ to its masala bonds.

Cadila Healthcare: Cadila Healthcare posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates and joint ventures of Rs. 3562 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs. 4602 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Titan: The company has posted a net profit of Rs. 1266.90 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs. 1514.50 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

HCL Technologies: The company posted a net profit after tax, minority interest and share of profit of associates of  Rs.20552 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016. Total income is Rs.115595.90 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2016.

WABCO Holdings: The company has entered into a multi-year agreement to supply vacuum pumps across all Mahindra & Mahindra’s major engine platforms, with series production expected to begin in late 2017.

Astral Poly Technik: The company is setting up a new production facility at Rajasthan at an initial investment of about Rs.700 mn. The company will be manufacturing pipes and fitting materials at the Rajasthan plant.

BHEL: BHEL has commissioned the second 500Mw thermal unit at Marwa Thermal Power Station in Chhattisgarh.

Cummins India: The company will announce its Q1 numbers today.

Results: Tata Power, Fortis Healthcare, Gati, Arvind, Cummins India, Montaso and Thomas Cook.

Global Data: AUD Retail Sales s.a. (MoM) (Jun), CHF SECO Consumer Climate (3m) (Q3),EUR Economic Bulletin REPORT, EUR Unemployment Rate (MoM) (May),GBP BoE Asset Purchase Facility (Aug),GBP BoE Interest Rate Decision (Aug 4),GBP Monetary Policy Summary REPORT,GBP Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Report REPORT,GBP BOE MPC Vote Unchanged, GBP BOE MPC Vote Cut, GBP BOE MPC Vote Hike,GBP Bank of England Minutes REPORT, USD Challenger Job Cuts (YoY) (Jul),GBP BOE's Governor Carney speech SPEECH,USD Continuing Jobless Claims (Jul 22), USD Initial Jobless Claims (Jul 29),USD Factory Orders (MoM) (Jun),USD EIA Natural Gas Storage change (Jul 29),AUD AiG Performance of Construction Index (Jul)

Trends in FII flows: The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs.8.01 bn in the cash segment on Wednesday, while FIIs were net buyers of Rs.5.78 bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.

Flat start for Sensex, Nifty

Asian markets are trading mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are trading higher. US stocks closed lower on Monday.

The indices are set to open on a flat note. Asian markets are trading mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are trading higher. Japanese stocks led early losses in Asia markets.The benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 1.57%.

US stocks closed lower on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.42% at 18,493.06 points. The S&P 500 index finished down 0.3% at 2,168.48 points, while the Nasdaq Composite ended 0.05%, lower at 5,097.63 points. Federal Reserve Open Committee is set to begin its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday.

Telecom Commission recommended a 3% annual usage charge for the spectrum to be sold in upcoming auction while fixing the same as the minimum rate even for existing airwaves with all operators.

Arun Jaitley will meet state ministers to put pressure on the opposition Congress party to back a long-delayed sales tax reform whose chances have again been thrown into doubt by a parliamentary standoff.The meeting is aimed at discussing proposed amendments to the GST Bill that has been passed by the Lok Sabha but is stuck in the Rajya Sabha.

Among other stocks in focus:

Dr.Reddy’s: The pharma company will announce its Q1 numbers today.

HDFC Bank: RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs.2 crore on the Bank on account of pendency in receipt of bills of entry relating to advance import remittances made and lapses in adhering to KYC/AML guidelines in this respect.

Maruti Suzuki: The auto company will announce its Q1 numbers today. The company is planning to transport vehicles through inland waterways and has inked a pact with the government for this, a move that will help the country's' largest carmaker reduce its logistic costs, as per media reports.

Canara Bank: The bank has posted a net profit of Rs.229 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.479 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Tata Motors: The company is desirous of offering the fourth series of its Rated, Listed, Unsecured, Redeemable, NCDs aggregating to Rs. 400 crores and in this regard is holding a meeting of its duly constituted Committee of the Board on July 28.

Bajaj Corp: Bajaj Corp recorded a rise of 10.1% in its net profit at Rs.52.2 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.47.4 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

PNB: Reserve Bank of India imposed an aggregate penalty of Rs.3 crore on the Bank in exercise of powers conferred under Section 47 (A) (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) of Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

PNC Infratech: The company has bagged a project worth Rs.232.91 crore for four-laning of a road in Uttar Pradesh.

Eveready Industries: Eveready Industries India Ltd reported a rise of 10.3% in its net profit at Rs.22.4 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.20.3 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Indiabulls Housing Finance: The company has posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs.630 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.511.3 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Eicher Motors: The company has made a proposal to the Central Government for seeking its approval towards re-appointment of Siddhartha Vikram Lal (Non-Resident) as Managing Director of the Company for the period of five years starting from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2021, as per media report.

Zee Ent: The company will announce its Q1 results today.

Greenply Industries: The company recorded a rise of 26% in its net profit at Rs.34.1 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.27 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Suven Life Sciences: Suven is exhibiting and presenting several exciting new results and data presentations from Suven’s portfolio of investigational neuroscience New Chemical Entities (NCEs) are being presented at Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) being held in Toronto, Canada during July 24th to 28th, 2016.

Indian Oil: The oil major is in talks to buy debt-laden Gujarat State Petroleum Corp's stake in the under-construction Rs. 4,500 crore Mundra LNG import terminal in Gujarat.

UltraTech Cement: The company is proposing to issue 7.57%, 3,000 Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures on private placement basis.

Kalyani Steels: The company recorded a rise of 62% in its net profit at Rs.47 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.29 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

GHCL: The company's total income has increased by 17.3% at Rs.730.8 crore for the quarter against Rs.622.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

K.P.R. Mill: K.P.R. Mill Ltd recorded a rise of 10.7% in its net profit at Rs.9.1 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.5.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Pincon Spirit: Pincon Spirit Ltd recorded a rise of 59.6% in its net profit at Rs.9.1 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.5.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

ITC: The Board of Directors at the meeting held on July 22, 2016, redesignated Sanjiv Puri, Wholetime Director, also as Chief Operating Officer of the Company with immediate effect.

Results: Dr.Reddy's Laboratories, Ambuja Cements,Maruti Suzuki India, ACC, Ajanta Pharma, Idfc Bank, Bharti Infratel, TVS Motor Company, United Spirits, V-Guard Industries, NIIT, Excel Industries,Karur Vysya Bank, Firstsource Solutions, Futuristic Solutions, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Goa Carbon, Tata Elxsi, IDFC, Aunde India,Austin Engineering, Available Finance,Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Asit C.Mehta Financial Services, Banco Products, Bijlee Textiles, Capri Global Capital,Charms Industries, Coromandel International,Welspun India, State Bank Of Travancore, Cosmo Films, Deltron, Elantas Beck India, Elecon Engineering, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys, Ingersoll-Rand (INDIA), L.G.Balakrishnan & Bros, Mahindra Cie Automotive, Manvijay Development Company, Mcs Ltd, Pi Industries, Ponni Sugars, Prime Securities, Pulsar International, Rajratan Global Wire, Shaba Chemicals, Shakti Pumps, Swaraj Engines, Symphony, Triveni Glass, Vinyl Chemicals, Wendt

Global Data: GBP BBA Mortgage Approvals (Jun),USD Redbook index (YoY) (Jul 22),USD Redbook index (MoM) (Jul 22), USD S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (YoY) (May),USD Markit Services PMI (Jul)PRELIMINAR, USD Markit PMI Composite (Jul)PRELIMINAR, USD Consumer Confidence (Jul),USD New Home Sales Change (MoM) (Jun), USD New Home Sales (MoM) (Jun), USD Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (Jul), USD 4-Week Bill Auction,USD 5-Year Note Auction

Trends in FII flows: The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs.678.9 mn in the cash segment on Monday, while FIIs were net buyers of Rs.8.91 bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE. 

Sensex, Nifty to open on a positive note

Asian markets are trading higher. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.14%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.65% and Shanghai Composite are trading marginally higher.

The indices are set to open on a positive note. Asian markets are trading higher. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.14%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.65% and Shanghai Composite are trading marginally higher.

US stocks closed higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high for the third consecutive day, ending the day up 0.73% at 18,506 points. The S&P 500 ended half a per cent higher, at 2,163 points. The Nasdaq Composite had its sixth positive day of gains, closing half a per cent higher at 5,034 points.

On the other hand, the India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose 1.62% YoY in the month of June as compared to 0.79% in May.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said that those who have not yet declared their undisclosed foreign assets will face the consequences.“One of the objectives behind 2015 black money law was providing an opportunity to assessees to comply and some people made use of that opportunity,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

On the international front, the Bank of England has held the UK's main interest rate at 0.5% despite speculation that it would cut rates.The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 8-1 to leave rates unchanged, but minutes of the meeting showed most members expect the Bank will take some action next month.

Among other stocks in focus:

Infosys: The IT company will announce its Q1 results today.

Reliance Industries Ltd: Reliance Industries Ltd will announce its Q1 result today.

TCS: The company registered a net profit of Rs.6,317 crore, up 9.9% yoy but down 0.4% qoq. The operating margin stood at 25.1% while operating profit was registered at Rs.7,347 crore.

HDFC: The company has raised Rs.3,000 crore through these rupee-denominated bonds that got over-subscribed by 4.3 times.

Wockhardt: Drug major Wockhardt Ltd has sought shareholders’ approval for raising up to Rs.1,200 crore through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

DCB Bank: The bank posted net profit of Rs.47.01 crore for the first quarter ended June, which was marginally up from Rs.46.87 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of FY16.

PNC Infratech: PNC Infratech has been declared the L1 (lowest) bidder for the project of four laning / two laning with paved shoulders from 0.00 km to 83.453 km of Dausa-Lalsot-Kauthun section of NH-11 A (Extension) in the state of Rajasthan under NHDP IV, on Hybrid Annuity Model for a bid project cost of Rs.881 crores.

Vimta Labs: The company said its net profit rises 114% from a year ago to Rs.2.71 crore in June quarter as compared to Rs.1.26 crore a year ago.

Rajesh Exports: The company has bagged Rs. 786 crore worth export order.

Titan Company Ltd: The company said that it would acquire around 62% of shares in online jewellery Carat Lane Trading Pvt Ltd, for a consideration of Rs.3.57 billion.

Can Fin Homes: The copany has reported a jump of 54.9% in the April-June quarter's net profit at Rs.49.72 crore.

SPML Infra: SPML Infra said its joint venture with Tata Projects has secured three new orders for design and construction of sewerage systems with provision of treated wastewater reuse from the Rajasthan government.

Vedanta: Vedanta Resources plc has repaid in full and redeemed the $514.8 million of outstanding amount on its 5.5% 2016 convertible bonds due on 13th July 2016.

Power Finance Corporation: The board of directors of the company has approved increase in the authorized share capital of the company from present Rs.2,000 crore divided into 200 Crores equity shares of Rs.10 each to Rs. 10,000 crores divided into 10,000 crore equity shares of Rs. 10 each and corresponding amendment in the capital clause of Memorandum of Association of the company.

Cyient: The consolidated net profit surged 12% to Rs.74 crore in Q1 FY17 as against Rs.66 crore.

Dishman Pharma:Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals' wholly owned subsidiary, namely Carbogen Amcis AG., Switzerland, has successfully completed inspection from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its two sites located at Aarau and Neuland without any adverse observations and received the Establishment Inspection Report.

Granules Pharma: Granules Pharmaceuticals Inc (GPI), a wholly-owned arm of Granules India Ltd, will be acquiring 12.5% stake in the US-based USpharma.

Hero MotoCorp: Hero MotoCorp launched the new Splendor iSmart 110 – the first motorcycle to be developed completely in-house, with Hero’s own technology.

Spice Mobility: Spice Mobility Ltd has announced that Spice Digital Limited (SDL), a subsidiary of the Company, has acquired further 3.07% stake in Sunstone Learning.

Results: Reliance Industries, Infosys,Mastek, LIC Housing Finance, NIIT Technologies, Steel Strips Wheels Ltd, Linear Industries, Mahashree Trading, Hatsun Agro Product, Golkonda Aluminium Extrusions, Amal, India Gelatine & Chemicals

Global Data: CNY M2 Money Supply (YoY) (Jun), CNY Industrial Production (YoY) (Jun),CNY NBS Press Conference SPEECH, CNY Gross Domestic Product (YoY) (Q2), CNY Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) (Q2),CNY Retail Sales (YoY) (Jun),CNY Urban investment (YTD) (YoY) (Jun), EUR Global Trade Balance (May), EUR Trade Balance EU (May), EUR Trade Balance n.s.a. (May), EUR Trade Balance s.a. (May),EUR Consumer Price Index (MoM) (Jun),EUR Consumer Price Index - Core (MoM) (Jun), EUR Consumer Price Index - Core (YoY) (Jun), EUR Consumer Price Index (YoY) (Jun),GBP BOE's Governor Carney speech SPEECH, USD Current Account (Q2), USD NY Empire State Manufacturing Index (Jul), USD Retail Sales ex Autos (MoM) (Jun), USD Retail control (Jun),USD Retail Sales (MoM) (Jun), USD Consumer Price Index Core s.a (Jun),USD Consumer Price Index (MoM) (Jun), USD Consumer Price Index n.s.a (MoM) (Jun),USD Consumer Price Index Ex Food & Energy (MoM) (Jun),USD Consumer Price Index (YoY) (Jun), USD Consumer Price Index Ex Food & Energy (YoY) (Jun), CAD Manufacturing Shipments (MoM) (May),USD Capacity Utilization (Jun), USD Industrial Production (MoM) (Jun),GBP CB Leading Economic Index (Jun), USD Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (Jul)PRELIMINAR, USD Business Inventories (May)

Trends in FII flows: The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs.8.74 bn in the cash segment on Thursday, while FIIs were net buyers of Rs.8.69 bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.

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.

Sensex, Nifty to open on a weak note

Global cues are subdued. Asian markets are mostly weak. The market will await data on Nikkei Services and Composite PMI. The rupee could remain lower for most part of the day.

It has stopped raining gains for some days now and investors seem to be banking on a good monsoon for a recovery on the street. Talking about banks, the picture is not so healthy. The government said that PSU banks exposure to top 50 defaulters is around Rs. 1.22 trillion while wilful defaults stand at Rs. 662 bn. On the bright side, IMF said India's growth outlook is favourable, with GDP growth projected to strengthen to 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal year, even in the absence of major structural reforms. China and Japan are expected to further slowdown sharply over the next two years. Yet, it is important to implement major reforms like GST on a priority, an IMF spokesperson said.

The outlook is a weak start. The indices may look at bouncing back as the weakness has prolonged for a few days now. Global cues are subdued. Asian markets are mostly weak. The market will await data on Nikkei Services and Composite PMI. The rupee could remain lower for most part of the day. US stock indices ended lower on Tuesday, with the technology, energy and banking shares leading the fall, as weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data revived worries about global growth. European stocks slumped, while commodity prices as well as commodity currencies declined following a surprise interest-rate cut by the Australian central bank.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 140.25 points, or 0.8%, to end at 17,750.91. The S&P 500 index sank 18.06 points, or 0.9%, to close at 2,063.37, with all the 10 main sectors in the red. The Nasdaq Composite index fell by 54.37 points, or 1.1%, to finish at 4,763. Two prominent members of the US Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee overnight said they intend to support an interest rate hike in June.

Crude oil futures traded in New York slipped on Tuesday on the back of renewed fears of a severe global glut ahead of weekly inventory data. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil lost US$1.13, or 2.5%, to end at US$43.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Brent oil futures dropped 86 cents, or 1.9%, to finish at US$44.97 a barrel on London’s ICE exchange.

Meanwhile, the closely watched Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly inventory data is due out on Wednesday. A survey compiled by Bloomberg expects an increase of 500,000 barrels in stockpiles last week.

The UK-based commodity-trading firm Liberty House Group has formally submitted the first bid for some of Tata Steel Ltd’s UK assets, reports a business daily. Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman of Liberty House, has formally submitted the so-called letter of intent (LOI) to buy loss-making assets of Tata Steel, including the Port Talbot steel plants in Wales.

Sensex, Nifty to open on a flat note

The world and its market seemed to have been stunned with Bank of Japan which left its monetary policy unchanged. Investors had earlier priced in a strong probability of BOJ unleashing more monetary stimulus. 

The world and its market seemed to have been stunned with Bank of Japan which left its monetary policy unchanged. Investors had earlier priced in a strong probability of BOJ unleashing more monetary stimulus. The economy is struggling from abysmally low growth and the need of the hour is more aid from the central bank. Further adjustments on account of F&O expiry further contributed to selling pressure on Dalal Street resulting in the Sensex logging one of its worst performance in recent weeks. HCL Tech results too disappointed the street.  Nifty lost 150 pts on last day of April series at 7847, largely driven by banking and metals heavyweights. BankNifty was up another 3.5% expiry to expiry (eoe) and Nifty was up 1% (eoe) basis. Rollovers on Nifty stood at ~67% vs 60% previous expiry (provisional data), which suggests that general bias is on the long side despite the sharp correction.

The outlook is a flat start. Global cues are not helping really. S&P 500 lost 0.92% while Dow Jones was down 1.16%. Nasdaq nosedived by 1.19%. The Indian indices begin May series with build-up seen at 8200 calls and 7700 puts. Perhaps this could be the trading band for the May series. ICICI Bank, IDFC, Marico and Interglobe Aviation results will be in focus today. Indices tend to show a recovery on most Fridays and investors will hope the same happens today.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for FY17 downwards to 7.7% from its earlier forecast of 7.9%. Despite favourable prospects for agriculture due to an above normal monsoon, industrial recovery is proving to be a drag on the FY17 growth prospect.

During the 12th Plan period, a target of 88,537 MW excluding 30,000 MW of Renewal Energy Source, was fixed for capacity addition. Against this, cumulative capacity addition of 84,990.7 MW has been achieved as on 31.03.2016, says  Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

RBI has released Minutes of Meeting Of Tech Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy. Members noted that global risks were worrying as global growth is slowing. US growth is likely to be around 2 per cent in 2016 and recovery in European Union and Japan will be muted. China’s real growth is below 7 per cent and is likely to fall below 5 per cent in about 3 years, although there was a view that China’s technocrats would ensure that the targeted growth of 6.5 per cent is achieved, says RBI.