Markets may open lower on weak global cues; Tata Motors in focus

Last leg of quarterly earnings, progress of monsoons and Parliament proceedings is likely to dictate the trend

Markets are likely to open the first session of the week on a cautious note mirroring weakness in the Asian peers on new indications of a slowdown in the Chinese economy. Also, a solid US jobs report for July, raising fears of an interest rate hike by the US fed is likely to dampen the sentiments. 

Last leg of quarterly earnings from blue-chip companies coupled with progress of monsoons and Parliament proceeding is likely to dictate the trend on the bourses.

Meanwhile, the government will release inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data and industrial production data for June 2015 on August 12 and inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index for July 2015 on August 14.

RESULT CALENDER

Some of the major companies that will announce their April-June earnings include, Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceutical, State Bank of India, Godrej Industries, NMDC, Bosch, Coal India, Ashok Leyland, Aurobindo Pharma, Jindal Steel & Power, National Aluminium Company, IndianOil Corporation, Tata Power, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindalco and Steel Authority of India among others.

STOCKS ON THE RADAR

Tata Motors reported steep fall in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June as volume sales of Jaguar Land Rover fell by one-third in its biggest market China due to a slowdown.

Drug firm Divis Laboratories reported a 45% rise in its net profit at Rs 243.18 crore for the June quarter, from Rs 167.93 crore a year ago. 

Sobha Developers reported 21% drop in the first quarter profit for the fiscal year 2016 at Rs 45 crore primarily on account of higher overheads. 

Country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp expects sales to bounce back in the second half of the ongoing fiscal on the back of slowdown in motorcycle demand.

 NMDC may soon secure 3,000-acre land in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district for its proposed 6 million tonne steel plant. 

Tata Steel has set a fresh target of December, 2015 for commissioning of 55,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity ferrochrome plant at Gopalpur in Odisha.

MRPL has posted a net profit of Rs 406 crore in the first quarter of 2015-16 as against a loss of Rs 36 crore during the corresponding previous quarter.

Central Bank of India requires Rs 3,000 crore capital this year and plans to raise the same from the government and through the qualified institutional placement route.

UCO Bank reported a 50.76% decline in net profit at Rs 256.70 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares are trading lower on new indications of a slowdown in the Chinese economy September. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4% and Hang Seng slipped over 1.2%. The early indicator, SGX Nifty is down 0.2%.

In the meanwhile, the US Department of Labor said on Friday employers added 215,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3% and there were signs that wages were beginning to pick up. This has resulted in fears of a rate hike by the US Fed which hit the US markets on Friday.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3%, hitting a six-month low. The S&P 500 shed also about 0.3%.