Indian shares set to open higher; key earnings to provide direction
Indian stocks were poised to open higher on Monday, tracking a Wall Street rally in the previous session, with shares also taking cues from the earnings of heavyweights such as Reliance.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.53% at 18,140.50, as of 7:32 a.m. IST.
Domestic equities will react to a host of key earnings from Friday and over the weekend, including that of heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
Financial stocks could gain after robust quarterly earnings results from top banks over the weekend.
Wall Street equities rallied to close higher on Friday, as upbeat quarterly earnings helped lift Netflix, while Google parent Alphabet climbed after announcing job cuts.
Most Asian equities were closed on Monday for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Foreign institutional investors sold 20.02 billion rupees ($247.22 million) worth of shares on Friday on a net basis, while domestic investors bought 15.10 billion rupees of shares on a net basis, as per provisional NSE data.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as India's biggest company by market valuation took a hit from the government's windfall tax on fuel exports.
** Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 31% increase in net profit on Saturday for the October-December quarter, aided by a strong top line and healthy loan growth.
** ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 34.2% increase in net profit for the October-December quarter, on the back of improved revenues and healthy loan growth.
** India's top cement maker, UltraTech Cement, reported a 38% decrease in quarterly profit on Saturday, dented by a surge in expenses.
** Yes Bank reported a surprise 80% plunge in quarterly profit on Saturday as provisions for bad loans increased.
** SBI Life Insurance Co reported a 16% fall in third-quarter profit on Saturday, dragged down by an increase in expenses.
($1 = 80.9790 Indian rupees)
Tag News
Weekly Market Analysis : Markets strengthened recovery and gained nearly 2% in the passing w...