PremiumIndian indices witnessed a negative start to the week on Monday. The new week will have RBI's MPC meeting, Q3 earnings, US inflation data, among other global cues, in focus. On Monday, Asian markets eased after a strong US jobs data addressed the concerns of investors, but also added to the risk of the US Fed tightening more aggressively. Shares in Shanghai advanced, while Japan, Australia and Honk Kong saw a decline.
At market pre-opening, the Sensex was down 95 points at 58,547.67, while Nifty50 was at 17516, lower by 43 points
Stock markets are expected to witness volatility this week with domestic factors such as RBI policy decision and quarterly earnings by big players driving the investor sentiment, analysts said.
Also, movement of the rupee, Brent crude and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) would be keenly watched by investors, they added.
"Among important events, participants will be closely eyeing the MPC’s monetary policy review meet this week and its outcome is scheduled on February 9. Besides, on the macro front, IIP data will be released on February 11," said Ajit Mishra, VP Research, Religare Broking.
"We have some big names like Bharti Airtel, Jindal Steel, ACC, Hero Motocorp, Tata Power, Hindalco and M&M that will announce their numbers during the week along with several others," Mishra added.
"Markets have been witnessing volatile swings, mirroring their global counterparts and it may continue in near future. Besides, the upcoming event i.e MPC's review and earnings would further add to the choppiness," he said.
Among others, TVS Motor Company, Union Bank of India, IRCTC, NMDC and SAIL will also announce their quarterly results.
Steel major Tata Steel on Friday said its consolidated net profit more than doubled to ₹9,598.16 crore for the quarter ended December 2021, mainly on account of higher income.
In a regulatory filing, the company said it had clocked a net profit of ₹4,010.94 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income during the October-December quarter also jumped to ₹60,842.72 crore, from ₹42,152.87 crore earlier.
Shree Cements Ltd on Friday reported a decline of 23.57 per cent in its consolidated net profit at ₹482.70 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021.
It had reported a net profit of ₹631.58 crore in the October-December quarter a year ago, Shree Cements said in a filing to the BSE.
Its revenue from operations was up 2.24 per cent at ₹3,637.11 crore during the quarter under review as against ₹3,557.21 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Digital payments and financial services firm One97 Communications, which operates under Paytm brand, on Friday reported widening of consolidated loss to ₹778.5 crore in the December 2021 quarter.
Paytm had registered a loss of ₹535.5 crore in the same period a year ago, according to late night BSE filing by the company.
Its consolidated revenue from operations, however, increased by about 88 per cent to ₹1,456 crore during the reported quarter from ₹772 crore it posted in the December 2020 quarter.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday reported 62.27 per cent jump in standalone net profit at ₹8,432 crore for the quarter ended December 2021, helped by lower provisions.
This is the highest ever quarterly profit reported by the lender.
SBI had posted a standalone net profit of ₹5,196 crore in the same period of 2020-21.
Chinese shares started Monday with strong gains after a week-long holiday, tracking an earlier jump in Hong-Kong listed names and as concerns eased about regulatory headwinds for the nation’s battered tech sector.
The CSI 300 Index, which fell into a bear market just before the Lunar New Year holidays, rallied as much as 2.4% in early trading. The Shanghai Composite Index also rose. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index edged up 0.2% after adding nearly 3% on Friday in its first session post the break.
India's central bank has rescheduled its monetary policy committee meeting by a day to Feb. 8-10, it said in a statement on Sunday, citing a public holiday in the state of Maharashtra to mourn the death of Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar.
The Reserve Bank of India's decision on key interest rates, scheduled for Wednesday, is now expected on Thursday.
RBI also said there will be no transactions in government securities, foreign exchange, money markets and Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives on Monday, Feb. 7.
Mangeshkar, one of India's best known cultural icons and a singer who defined music for generations, died on Sunday and was given a state funeral.
Gold prices rose on Monday, as growing worries over broadening price pressures lifted the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge and helped cushion pressure from higher U.S. Treasury yields after a surprisingly upbeat jobs report.
Fundamentals
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,810.38 per ounce by 0129 GMT, hovering close to its highest nearly a week reached last Friday, while U.S. gold futures edged up 0.2% to $1,812.10
* The dollar index was flat, while benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries hit their highest levels since December 2019 on Friday.
* The Labor Department's employment report showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by 467,000 jobs last month, which could sustain the Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates.
* Wild swings in stocks and a sharp run-up in government bond yields have put the spotlight on this week's U.S. inflation data, as investors brace for more volatility across assets.
* Due out on Thursday, the U.S. consumer price index for January was expected to have risen 0.5%, culminating in an annual rise of 7.3%, which would be the largest such increase since 1982, according to a Reuters poll.
* Gold is considered a hedge against inflation and geopolitical risks, yet rate hikes would raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Tokyo shares opened lower on Monday as worries mounted over a tightening of US monetary policy.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.21 percent or 335.37 points to 27,104.62 in early trade and the broader Topix index fell 0.90 percent, or 17.45 points, to 1,913.11.
Wall Street stocks finished mostly higher on Friday following a surprisingly good US jobs report that raised expectations for aggressive tightening in monetary policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.1 percent but the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.6 percent.
The Chinese government could take further measures if needed to keep the yuan stable, potentially putting downward pressure on the currency, a former foreign exchange regulator said.
Policymakers could increase yuan's flexibility, expand capital outflows, or control capital inflows to rein in the yuan, which could deviate from economic fundamentals in the short term, wrote Guan Tao, global chief economist at BOC International and a former official at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
The euro was near Friday's three-week high on Monday morning, after the European Central Bank's hawkish turn last week, but analysts said further short-term gains looked less likely with looming Fed tightening supporting the dollar.
Meanwhile, in cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin held around a two week high.
Investors this week will be watching for U.S. inflation data due Thursday, with a strong reading cementing expectations that the Fed will raise rates at its March meeting and hint at the possibility of a large 50 basis point rise.
The euro was last at $1.1451, not far from Friday's high of $1.4183, equalling mid-January's top.
The yen was at 115.16 per dollar, and sterling was at $1.35310, both in the middle of their recent ranges.
This left the dollar index at 95.461, having been given a late boost by strong U.S. jobs data Friday at the end of a bruising week for the greenback.
Oil prices fell on Monday on expectations the U.S.-Iran talks may be nearing a conclusion on reviving a deal restricting the OPEC country's nuclear weapons development, which would raise crude supply, though global supply concerns capped losses.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Friday restored sanctions waivers to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, as the talks on the 2015 international nuclear deal enter the final stretch.
If the United States lifts sanctions on Iran, the country could boost oil shipments, adding to global supply.
Brent crude was down 53 cents, or 0.6%, to $92.74 a barrel by 0055 GMT, after rising $2.16 on Friday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 74 cents, or 0.8%, to $91.57 a barrel, having gained $2.04 the previous session.
Activity in China's services sector in January expanded at the slowest pace in five months, as a surge in local COVID-19 cases and containment measures hit new business and consumer sentiment while employment fell, a private survey showed on Monday.
The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 51.4 in January - the lowest since August - from 53.1 in December. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
Asian share markets eased on Monday after stunningly strong U.S. jobs data soothed concerns about the global economy but also added to the risk of an aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve.
Geopolitics also remained a worry as the White House warned Russia could invade Ukraine any day and French President Emmanuel Macron prepared for a trip to Moscow.
The cautious mood saw MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dip 0.1% in early trade. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4% and South Korea 0.6%.
Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were little changed, after last week's market turmoil saw Amazon.com Inc gain almost $200 billion while Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc lost just as much.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!