Market Watch: Bajaj Auto, Dabur, DLF to be in focus

Markets are likely to open flat. At 830am, the SGX Nifty was trading 0.2% lower at 8,344

Here are a few stocks that are likely to be in focus today:

Bajaj Auto is likely to be in the limelight after reporting 1% increase in total sales in April at 336,274 units as against 3,31,529 units in the same month last year. Motorcycle sales during the month declined 5% to 285,791 units

Ashok Leyland is also set to see some action after reporting a 43% growth in sales during the month of April. Total sales stood at 8,435 units in the month, compared to 5,897 units a year ago. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales rose 45% to 6,549 units from 4,523 units, while light commercial vehicle sales increased 37% to 1,886 units from 1,374 units a year ago.

DLF Ltd is likely to raise about Rs 3,600 crore this quarter through the issue of securities, backed by its IT-SEZ, as part of strategy to replace costlier debt, according to reports.

US-based Cognizant reported 9.7% growth in net profit for the quarter to $382.9 million compared with the corresponding period last year. This could see IT stocks gain traction at the bourses today.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dabur India, ABB India, NIIT Technologies and Pfizer are among companies that will announce their respective earnings for the March quarter.

Also keep a tab on Ashapura Intimates Fashion as DSP Blackrock bought 640,000 shrs on Monday, reports suggest.

According to reports, HSBC has cut its rating on Ballarpur Industries (BILT) to Hold. The stock could react to the development.

SKS Microfinance is also likely to react to 49% rise in its net profit at Rs 40.54 crore for the last quarter ended March 2015.

MARKET COMMENTARY

The outlook is a flat opening given the mixed cues from the Asian front and in wake of theshort-covering rally witnessed on Monday.

On the global front, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points, or 0.2% to end at 18,070 and the S&P 500 gained 6 points, or 0.2% to 2,114, just shy of its record-high close of 2,117 touched on April 24. The Nasdaq Composite added 11 points, or 0.2% to 5,016.

In Asia, the trading volumes are light this morning because Japanese, South Korean and Thailand markets are shut today. And the open markets are  trading mixed; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.3% higher at 28,205, while China's Shanghai index was trading 0.3% lower at 4,464.

On developments back home, the Rajya Sabha is likely to witness a tug of war between the government and the Opposition over the real estate Bill, listed for consideration and passage on Tuesday, as the Congress has upped the ante over it after party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi’s Saturday meeting with home buyers.

TECHNICAL VIEW

On Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex opened on a strong bull note and negated the trend of negativity of last couple of trading sessions. The index throughout the day traded in positive territory led by a strong rally in most of the sectorial indices and support base buying in beaten down counters. It finally ended the day in handsome gain of 1.7%.

Analysts say that the index now needs to cross and hold its 27,500 levels to witness bounce back move towards 27,750 and psychological 28,000 levels. On the downside, there is immediate support at around 27,250 levels.

"Nifty, on the other hand, needs to stay above 8,300 levels to continue its move towards 8,380 and 8,420 levels. However, if it fails to hold 8,280 levels then momentum may again fizzle out and index may go down towards 8,220 and then 8,180 levels," points out a morning note from Anand Rathi Research.