After yesterday's 3 per cent plunge, Indian indices look set for a strong start today on the back of favourable global cues. The SGX Nifty shot up over 200 points from Nifty future's last close, indicating an open at around 9,000 for the Nifty. However, the gains might be capped due to the rapidly increasing tally of coronavirus cases in India which has now exceeded 1 lakh with 3,156 deaths.

The positive momentum in global stocks was due to an encouraging report on potential coronavirus vaccine from drugmaker Moderna Inc which said its experimental Covid-19 vaccine showed promising results in a small early-stage trial. The Dow Jones rose 3.85 per cent and Nasdaq Composite added 2.44 per cent. The S&P 500 gained 3.15 per cent to close at 10-week high.

Asian shares also ticked up on the news. Japan's Nikkei and Australian shares gained almost 2 per cent while Hong Kong was up half a per cent.

Oil prices followed the trend and jumped to their highest in over two months. Brent crude was last up 1.38 per cent at $35.29 per barrel.

Investors will react to Bharti Airtel's results today in which the telecom major reported a net loss of Rs 5,237 crore in the March quarter, largely due to an exceptional item of Rs 7,004 crore for the AGR dues payment. The company’s average revenue per user grew 25.2 per cent to Rs 154 while the consolidated revenue came in at Rs 23,723 crore, up 15 per cent YoY.

Today, 18 companies, including Bajaj Finance, Apollo Tyre, and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, are scheduled to announce their March quarter earnings.

In what may come as a major relief to businesses, the Union government has withdrawn its order directing employers to pay wages to workers, even with units remaining shut during lockdown.

Besides, Reliance Industries and HDFC will remain in focus today after RIL said its core business was hit significantly by demand-related challenges due to Covid-19 while HDFC was asked by the RBI to pare stake in its insurance subsidiaries to 50 per cent or below.

On the regulatory front, the BSE and the NSE reduced the listing fee for their small- and medium- enterprise platforms by 25 per cent, amid challenges due to Covid-19. The revised listing fee structure will be applicable for the existing companies, as well as for the firms waiting to be listed on the exchange.

Moreover, the Sebi has granted mutual funds’ request for allowing additional exposure to government securities and treasury bills for credit risk fund, corporate bond fund, and the banking & PSU fund. The regulator has temporarily revised the scheme categorisation norms to make the option available for MFs. The higher limits can be availed for a period of three months.

Read by: Kanishka Gupta