Given the sharp rally witnessed over last few days, we may see the Indian markets consolidating or taking a breather for few more days before starting the next leg of rally

Nifty futures on Singaporean Exchange were trading 38 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 10,053, signalling a gap-up opening for BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 on Friday. With mixed cues from the global markets, Indian markets may trade volatile today. Besides, coronavirus related newsflow, stock-specific developments and corporate earnings will sway investor sentiment. On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,905.04 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 847.31 crore on a net basis, according to the provisional data available on the NSE. “Given the sharp rally witnessed over last few days, we may see the Indian markets consolidating or taking a breather for few more days before starting the next leg of rally. Given the positive global and domestic cues, the overall view on the markets continue to remain positive,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Stocks in focus today

Reliance Industries: Mukesh Ambani-led RIL announced that Abu-Dhabi based global investment company, Mubadala, would pick up 1.85 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 9,093.6 crore. In a span of just six weeks, RIL’ Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 87,655 crore for 18.97 per cent equity stake from several investors.

Bharti Airtel: Amazon.com is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, underscoring the growing attraction of India’s digital economy for US tech giants.

SBI, Larsen & Toubro: Exide Industries, Gujarat Gas, Alkem Laboratories, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro (LT), REC, IRB InvIT, Greaves Cotton, HFCL, Infibeam Avenues and Jyothy Laboratories are among 32 company that are scheduled to announce their March quarter earnings today.

Bharti Infratel: Bharti Infratel on Thursday said its board will meet on June 11 to take the final decision on the merger with Indus Towers. “The Board has decided to meet on 11th June 2020 to take the final decision on the matter, keeping in mind the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders,” company said in a regulatory filing. The Board of Directors in a meeting held on April 23, 2020, had extended the long stop date for the scheme till June 24, 2020.

RITES: RITES on Thursday said that its subsidiary Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) has secured its largest mandate from Indian Railways for handling tendering, installation supervision and managing power supply from 3 GW solar power plants which will be set-up on vacant Indian Railways’ land. The project will be divided into 3 phases of 1 GW each.

S P Apparels: Goldman Sachs International Equity Fund and The Scottish Oriental Smaller Countries Fund sold 4,00,000 and 1,56, 636 shares of S P Apparels at Rs 67.01 and Rs 68.85 respectively.

Power Grid: Power Grid Corporation of India said that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has asked the company to pay Rs. 13,613.66 crore as a license fee for the FYs 2006-07 to 2009-10, interest, penalty and interest on the penalty.