Vodafone-Idea, ONGC, Banking shares to be in focus today; 5 things to know before the opening bell

Market participants expect the equity benchmarks to move within range for a few trading sessions as stock markets adapt to new margin trading norms.

Domestic benchmark indices stare at a muted opening on Wednesday with the SGX Nifty trading flat. S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 enter Tuesday’s trading session after recovering partially from the massive fall that they witnessed on Monday. Market participants expect the equity benchmarks to move within range for a few trading sessions as stock markets adapt to new margin trading norms. Banking stocks to be in focus today with the interest waiver case up for hearing. Telecom stocks will also be on the watchlist as investors react to the 10-year timeline given by the Supreme Court to pay AGR dues.

Global cues: While NASDAQ gained again to close at record high levels, cues from Asian Peers were mixed on Wednesday morning. Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were trading with losses while stock markets in South Korea and Japan were up with gains. SGX Nifty was flat.

FII and DII trends: Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) bought equities worth Rs 486 crore on Tuesday while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) were seen pulling away Rs 775 crore from domestic stock markets. 

Deals on D-Street: On Tuesday in a bulk deal, 4.69 lakh Future Enterprise DVR class B shares were sold by Vivek Saraogi. Finquest Financial Solutions sold 40 lakh CG Power & Industrial Solutions.

Interest waiver case: The apex court will today decide on pleas demanding waiver of interest during the moratorium period and waiver of interest on interest during the same period. The ruling could have far reaching implications for banks.

Earnings today: Some of the big names that will inform investors of their quarterly performance between April and June are, state run Coal India, Jubilant Food-works, and Sadbhav Engineering.

Stocks to Watch:

Banking stocks: stocks of banks will be in focus today after the AGR ruling yesterday. Another reason to watch banks stocks will have to do with the interest waiver hearing today. The Apex court will decide if the banks can charge interest on interest during the moratorium period.

Telecom companies: After the Supreme Court gave them 10-years to pay their AGR dues, telecom stocks will today be in focus. Yesterday Bharti Airtel surged over 6% while Vodafone Idea tanked 13%.

ONGC: The oil and natural gas explorer saw net profit tank over 90% as demand took a hit during the nation-wide lockdown while crude oil prices slipped. ONGC was the worst performing stock on Sensex yesterday.

Infosys: The IT major yesterday said that it will be hiring 12,000 American workers in the next two years. The move will help its business in the United States with a stronger workforce as demand for IT services grows.

Auto stocks: Automobile manufacturers have been witnessing demand pickup which could aid their stock performance on the bourses. Tractor sales have been buoyant, helping stocks like Eicher and Mahindra & Mahindra.