The trend in coronavirus cases and the government's decision on the nationwide lockdown will be the top triggers for the markets this week. The ongoing lockdown is supposed to end on May 3 so any extension beyond that date is likely to hurt market sentiment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct a video conference with chief ministers today to discuss interstate transit of migrants and the Centre’s plan for a staggered exit from the lockdown.

Meanwhile, India's count of Covid-19 cases has reached 27,890 and the death toll stood at 882, according to Worldometer. India reported 1,975 new positive cases in the previous 24 hours itself, thus recording its biggest 1-day surge in number of cases.
Globally, the death toll has surpassed 200,000.

According to a Business Standard report, the government will give out new official economic growth and budgetary projections in July or later, only after the worst of the pandemic is behind the country.

Besides this, corporate results of a number of private banks and FMCG companies will roll in this week. IndusInd Bank and Ambuja Cements are scheduled to announce their March quarter results today. Throughout the rest of the week, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and Tech Mahindra are among the major result announcements to watch out for. Auto sales data for April will also be released over the weekend.

Investors will also track the developments in the Franklin Templeton case. The finance ministry and the Sebi had discussions with the mutual fund industry on Sunday to assess the impact of the company's move and its repercussions on the corporate debt market.

Besides, the expiry of April derivative contracts this week is likely to inject further volatility. On the macro data front, infrastructure output for March will be released on April 30.

Globally, Bank of Japan, Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will announce their interest rate decision this week. The US Federal Reserve's two-day meeting begins tomorrow and the interest rate decision will be announced on April 29.

Asian shares inched higher in today's early trade. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1 per cent in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi both gained over 1 per cent each. The SGX Nifty is also up about 50 points, so expect a slightly higher opening for the Indian markets today. In commodities, Brent crude futures firmed 45 cents to $21.89 a barrel.

Read by: Kanishka Gupta