Sensex, Nifty look to open with losses on Monday; key factors to set tone for equity markets today

The trends on SGX Nifty were signalling a gap-down opening from BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 on Monday

Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 are expected to open weak following their Asian peers. On Friday Sensex soared 548 points or 1.50 points to end at 37,020, while the broader Nifty 50 index settled just above 10,900, gaining 162 points or 1.51 per cent. Headline indices, Sensex and Nifty ended the week with a gain of 1.16 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. “With no major event, the on-going earnings season and global cues will continue to dictate the market trend. Besides, the progress of monsoon will also be closely watched. Markets are braving all the storms and gradually inching higher however the participation is largely limited to a handful of index majors. Traders should maintain extra caution in the selection of stocks and prefer hedged trades,” said Ajit Mishra, VP Research, Religare Broking.

SGX Nifty points to weak start: The trends on SGX Nifty were signalling a gap-down opening from BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 on Monday. Nifty futures were trading 37 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 10,894 on Singaporean Exchange.

HDFC Bank profit surges 20% in Q1: HDFC Bank reported a 19.6 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 6,658.62 crore from Rs 5,568.16 crore in Q1 FY20. Its net interest income increased 17.8 per cent for the first quarter of the financial year to Rs 15,665.4 crore from Rs 13,294.3 crore for the same period last financial year.

Earnings today: A total of 40 companies are scheduled to report their results today. The list includes names such as ACC, Den Networks, and SBI Cards and Payment Services, Bombay Dyeing, CSL Finance, Indo Amines, Maharashtra Scooters, NRB Bearings, State Trading Corporation of India Swaraj Engines. etc.

Asian markets: Stocks in Asian markets edged lower in early morning trade on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 pared earlier gains and dipped 0.42%. The Topix declined 0.43% and the Hang Seng index tumbled 1%.

US market: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23 per cent to end at 26,672.36 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.29 per cent to 3,224.75. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.28 per cent to 10,503.19.

FII and DII data: On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 697.08 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 209.42 crore on a net basis, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

Technical view by Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities
The near term uptrend of Nifty seems to have sustained after a small dip and one may expect further upside in the coming sessions. The next upside levels to be watched around 11250, which is an opening downside gap of 5th March. Immediate support is placed at 10850. However, having stretched its uptrend above the resistance, one needs to be cautious of longs at the highs. As there is a possibility of reversal from the highs.