Market may open with tiny losses

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 7.50 points at the opening bell.

Overseas, most Asian stocks rose helped by strong results from Apple. US stocks closed higher yesterday, 1 August 2017 and the Dow Jones Industrials Average racked up a fifth straight record high powered by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other banks.

Economic data showed US consumer spending barely rose in June as income failed to increase for the first time in seven months. Also, American manufacturers tapped on the brakes lightly in July but were still expanding near the fastest pace in three years. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell slightly to 56.3% last month after reaching a three-year high of 57.8% in June.

Meanwhile, oil dropped about 2% from a two-month high yesterday, 1 August 2017 as major world oil producers kept pumping out supply, causing investors to worry that several weeks of steady gains had pushed the rally too far, too fast.

Back home, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s monetary policy meeting is scheduled at 14:30 IST today, 2 August 2017. RBI is likely to cut policy rates by 25 basis points. In June 2017, RBI kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.25%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remained at 6%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.5%.

Among corporate news, pharma major Lupin announced that it has received final approval for its Fluocinonide Topical Ointment USP, 0.05% from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market a generic version of County Line Pharmaceuticals, LLC's Lidex Ointment, 0.05%. Lupin's Fluocinonide Topical Ointment USP, 0.05% is AB rated generic equivalent of County Line Pharmaceuticals, LLC's Lidex Ointment, 0.05%. It is indicated for the relief of the inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of corticosteroid-responsive dermatoses. Lidex Ointment had US sales of $40.3 million as per IMS MAT March 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 1 August 2017.

Hero MotoCorp said its total two-wheeler sales rose 17.1% to 6.23 lakh units in July 2017 over July 2016, despite sluggish sales for the first few days of the month due to the transition to GST. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 1 August 2017.

Bata India, Godrej Properties, Lupin, Punjab National Bank and Reliance Infrastructure will announce April-June 2017 results today, 2 August 2017.

Coal India reported production and offtake figures for July 2017, which were close to their targets for the month. Coal India said that production of the company and its subsidiary companies on provisional basis was 97% of targeted production at 36.64 million tonnes in July 2017. Offtake was 99% of target at 44.33 million tonnes in July 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 1 August 2017.

PowerGrid Corporation of India's net profit rose 13.9% to Rs 2052.41 crore on 17.3% rise in net sales to Rs 7181.35 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 1 August 2017.

Meanwhile, key benchmark indices settled with small gains yesterday, 1 August 2017 as positive cues from global stocks supported gains on the bourses. The Sensex rose 60.23 points or 0.19% to settle at 32,575.17, a record high.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 945.83 crore yesterday, 1 August 2017, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1390.65 crore yesterday, 1 August 2017, as per provisional data.

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