Earnings, IPO buzz to keep traders busy; experts see volatile moves in the coming week

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Domestic benchmark equity indices ended flat with a positive bias on Friday but bulls failed to hold on to the momentum and closed 1.5% lower for the week ended April 16. The market fell for the second consecutive week amid worries over economic and earnings growth, as states increased restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 28 points to end at 48,832, while the Nifty50 was up 36 points to close at 14,617.

In Friday’s session, buying was seen across sectors like healthcare, utilities, consumer durable, power; while, banks, capital goods, auto and realty stocks were under selling pressure.

All sectoral indices, barring pharma, witnessed selling pressure during the truncated week ended April 16. For the week ended April 16, selloff was witnessed across all sectors, while pharma stocks bucked the trend.

In the coming holiday-shortened week, the markets are largely expected to be volatile as investors will keep an eye on the the second wave of COVID-19 infections and global cues.

The stock markets will remain shut on April 21 on account of Ram Navami. Domestic equity market is likely to remain rangebound next week as investors are unwilling to take bullish positions at a time when the pandemic is raging. India reported more than 2.61 lakh new cases on April 18 – highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the virus.

Besides rising cases, the markets may also react to the Q4 results announced by index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, during the weekend.

As we move into the second week of the earnings season, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies, Nestle India, ACC, Bajaj Consumer Care, CRISIL, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, 5paisa Capital, Tata Steel Long Products, ICICI Securities, Majesco, Tata Steel BSL, Cyient, Indus Towers, Rallis India, Tata Elxsi and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services are among 55 companies that will release their quarterly earnings in the coming week.

Focus will also be on the the primary market space as Macrotech Developers, erstwhile Lodha Developers, will list its equity shares on the stock exchanges on April 19.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Macrotech Developers, aimed to raise ₹2,500 crore through fresh issue of shares, had opened on April 7, 2021 and closed on April 9, 2021. Formerly known as Lodha developers, the real estate company’s issue price was fixed at ₹483- ₹486 per share.

Here’s what experts say investors should do on April 19

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Nifty closed the week at 14600 zone with loss of 1.50% on weekly basis and formed hammer sort of candle pattern on weekly chart. Again index has taken strong resistance from 14700 zone which will be an immediate hurdle for coming week as well followed by 14800 zone, supports are still placed at 14500-14400 zone if managed to hold above said levels we may see positive move in coming sessions

Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking

Markets ended marginally in the green on Friday, taking a breather after the recent rebound. Among the sectoral indices, mostly ended higher wherein pharma, IT and auto were the top contributors. Consequently, Nifty closed higher by 0.3% at 14,618 levels.

Surprisingly, markets are showing tremendous resilience despite the rising COVID cases but sustainability at higher levels seems difficult if this trend continues. Besides, earnings season also holds equal importance and any negative surprise may again derail the recovery. On the benchmark front, Nifty has an immediate hurdle at 14,700 and a decisive break will pave the way for further rebound else profit taking would resume so plan your positions accordingly.