Lacklustre opening seen; metal stocks in focus

FII stance,rupee and crude oil movement, Parliament proceedings, ongoing earning season along with progress of monsoon are the key drivers

Markets are likely to open on a lacklustre note mirroring a mixed trend across the Asian peers. FII stance, movement of rupee and crude oil, Parliament proceedings, ongoing earning season along with progress of monsoon are the key drivers to dictate the trend on the bourses.

Emerging Asia, including India, is likely to see growth in consumption rather than in investment, says a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) report.

GLOBAL MARKET

Asian shares are trading mixed amid weakness in crude oil prices. Meanwhile, Japanese shares are outperforming the peers and are trading firm as the dollar strengthened against the yen. Japan’s Nikkei is up 1.5%.

China’s Shanghai Composite has bounced back from lower levels after China's consumer prices rose 2.3% in April from the same period last year slightly less than markets expectations.

CORPORATE NEWS

Metal stocks will remain in focus after the iron ore traffic, including pellets, at major ports saw a sharp fall of 28% in financial year 2015-16 as imports declined because of weak demand. Total iron ore cargo fell to 13 million tonnes (mt) from 18 mt a year ago.

Bengaluru-based GMR Group will disinvest 30 per cent in its 10 energy assets to a Malaysian power utility for $300 million (Rs 2,000 crore).

Tata Steel has received seven expressions of interest (EOI) for its UK business, which is up for sale. Tata Steel has taken forward only those proposals which are for all of Tata Steel's UK business and not in parts.

L&T Finance Holdings aims to sell private equity (PE) and proprietary investments worth Rs 800 crore, preferably in this financial year.

Axis Bank is staring at an elevated provisioning of Rs 9,000 crore over FY17 and FY18, as it expects the asset quality pressure to continue. This is much higher than the average provisioning of Rs 2,208 crore it has seen every year in the past five financial years.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Monday reported an increase of 7.02% in standalone net profit at Rs 1,089.59 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has launched an innovative mobile app to connect doctors with asthma patients. The app has been developed for enabling doctors to track treatment progress of their patients and increase compliance to medication for better management of asthma.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) crude oil production has risen for the second consecutive year in 2015-16 but natural gas output continues to decline.

MM Forgings has seen its net profit in the fourth quarter come down to 10.97 crore, down from 13.10 crore in the year-ago Q4 and 11.11 crore in Q3. 

Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim posted a 40% jump in net profit at Rs 724 crore for the March quarter as compared to Rs 516 crore in the same period last year. 

Maruti Suzuki has urged its component suppliers to make investment for the future as the company's requirements are expected to grow, with it predicting double-digit expansion in annual sales at least until 2020.