Markets may be volatile on virus concerns; HDFC Bank, Future Retail in focus

On Friday, the BSE Sensex ended at48,832.03, up 28.35 points or 0.06%. The Nifty closed at 14,617.85 up 36.40 points or 0.25%

Markets are likely to be volatile on Monday while SGX Nifty suggest a weak opening. Rise of covid cases in India at an alarming rate have made investors nervous. On Friday, the BSE Sensex ended at48,832.03, up 28.35 points or 0.06%. The Nifty closed at 14,617.85 up 36.40 points or 0.25%.

Asian shares hovered near 1.5 week highs on Monday helped by expectations that monetary policy will remain accommodative the world over, while covid-19 vaccine rollouts help ease fears of another dangerous wave of coronavirus infections.

The European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday with no changes to rates or guidance expected while preliminary data on factory activity around the globe for April is due on Friday.

India’s largest private lender HDFC Bank on Saturday said it has set aside ?500 crore as provisions to cover the Supreme Court-directed compound interest refund to all borrowers during the March-August period. HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 18.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise in net profit for the three months to March to ?8,186.5 crore. However, its profit was lower than ?8,436 crore estimated by a Bloomberg poll of 14 analysts.

Future Retail Ltd is a step closer to a debt recast, with a group of 28 lenders approving a proposal for this and allowing it to extend the loan repayment period by up to two years, subject to the approval by a central bank committee, the company said.

Among key companies, ACC, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company and Bajaj Consumer Care will announce their quarterly results on Monday.

Real estate company Macrotech Developers will make stock markets debut on Monday. The ?2,500-crore issue was subscribed 1.36 times during 7-9 April with a price band of ?483-486 per share

In currencies, the US dollar loitered near a four-week low against a basket of currencies as investors increasingly bought into the Federal Reserve's insistence it would keep an accommodative policy stance for a while longer.

The dollar index measuring the greenback against a basket of six currencies was unchanged at 91.612, not far from its lowest since 18 March touched on Friday.

Against the Japanese yen, the greenback was off a touch at 108.72. The euro was a tad lower at $1.1966 while the British pound eased 0.07% to $1.3820.

In commodities, oil prices were down with the Brent slipping 34 cents to $66.43 a barrel and U.S. crude falling 29 cents to $62.84.

Gold was up 0.2% at $1,779.3 an ounce.

Get watch our process Click here Ideal Stock Investment , daliy call profit, Market News, Fill Our ask an Expert form