RBI policy, macro data to steer mkts this week

The stock markets will be steered by RBI policy, macroeconomic data points and global trends this week, say experts.

"The market is slowly expected to gain momentum in the month of April and bounce back from lows on expectation of good numbers.

"There is still uncertainty regarding how the US markets will unfold and the impact of trade wars... but more or less the same has been factored in and therefore the markets should perform better than what the majority are expecting on the street," said Jimeet Modi, Founder and CEO, SAMCO Securities.

"The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee will meet on April 4 and 5 for the first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2018-2019. Global trends, investments by FIIs, domestic institutions and movement of rupee will be watched closely by traders," said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research.

Also, PMI data for the manufacturing and services sector would influence trading sentiment, market analysts said.

Auto stocks would also be in focus amid sales data announcement.

"As far as the outlook for FY19 is concerned, we have a conservative expectation, volatility is expected to stay given high valuations, fall in credit growth (mess in financial market), pre-election volatility and trade war issues," said Vinod Nair Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Over the last week, the Sensex rose 372.14 points, or 1.14 per cent.