India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.15% at 17,785.50 as of 7:48 a.m. IST. The Nifty 50 closed 0.68% higher on Monday, led by financials, which climbed nearly 1.5%. "The better than expected fourth-quarter results from ICICI Bank over the weekend and RBI’s relaxation towards the HDFC Bank merger led to a rally in financials," said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Analysts expect markets to remain range bound with a positive bias as earnings trickle in.
Wall Street equities closed mixed on Monday as investors digested corporate earnings amid rising odds of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike on May 3. Asian equities remained subdued. Foreign institutional investors extended their selling streak for six straight sessions on Monday, offloading 4.12 billion rupees ($50.3 million) of shares.
Nestle Ltd , Bajaj Auto Ltd , Bajaj Finance Ltd , Maruti Suzuki Ltd , Hindustan Unilever Ltd , Axis Bank Ltd , ACC Ltd , Wipro Ltd , Ultratech Cement Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd are among the companies due to report their quarterly numbers this week.
Stocks to Watch:
** Ipca Laboratories Ltd : Co to buy over 33% stake
in Unichem Laboratories for up to 10.34 billion rupees.
** Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd : Co selected
as a partner to redevelop a residential society in Mumbai that
offers a revenue potential of about 8.5 billion rupees.
** Century Textile and Industries : Co reports 69%
year-on-year jump in consolidated profit to 1.45 billion rupees
in March quarter.
** Key earnings on Tuesday: Bajaj Auto Ltd , Nestle
India Ltd , HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd , AU Small Finance Bank Ltd , Tata Consumer
Products Ltd , Dalmia Bharat Ltd , Mahindra
CIE Automotive Ltd , Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd , Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd ,
Rallis India Ltd , Meghmani Finechem Ltd ,
Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd .
($1 = 81.8790 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
