Stocks may open lower

SGX Nifty:

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 80 points at the opening bell.

Lockdown was extended on Sunday in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Puducherry, with many states already imposing covid-induced restrictions till May-end to rein in the spread of infection.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the ongoing lockdown in the national capital will continue for another week and said the process of "unlock" will start from May 31 in a phased manner if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Monday, as investors anxiously awaited a key read on U.S. inflation this week for guidance on monetary policy.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher Friday, while other major benchmarks slipped on concerns about Federal Reserve policy in the face of rising inflation pressures.

Helping sentiment Friday was a gauge for U.S. manufacturing activity that surged to a record high this month. The IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index jumped to an all-time high of 61.5 in May from 60.5 in April.

However, housing data was soft. Existing-home sales fell 2.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.85 million annual rate, according to the National Association of Realtors.

On the coronavirus front, BioNTech's chief executive reportedly said that the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with U.S. pharmaceutical group Pfizer is likely to be effective against the Indian variant of coronavirus.

Domestic markets:

Back home, the domestic equity barometers ended with robust gains on Friday, boosted by banks and financial stocks. The moderation in daily new Covid cases in India improved risk sentiments. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 975.62 points or 1.97% to 50,540.48. The Nifty 50 index jumped 269.25 points or 1.81% to 15,175.30.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 510.16 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 649.10 crore in the Indian equity market on 21 May, provisional data showed.

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