Indian Shares Rise at Pre-Open as Sensex, Nifty Poised for Higher Start Ahead of Earnings

Mumbai, July 6: Indian shares rose at pre-open on Monday signalling a higher start for benchmarks as the mood remained upbeat ahead of the earnings season starting this week and oil eased below $72 per barrel.  

Nifty 50 rose 0.2% and Sensex advanced 0.4% at pre-open while Gift Nifty increased 0.2%.  
To be sure, Indian markets extended gains for a fourth straight week on Friday, aided by softer US labour market data and easing crude oil prices, which strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve would refrain from raising interest rates.  

Spotlight will be falling on Dabur India as the FMCG major sees its June quarter profit after tax growing in double digits, supported by calibrated price hikes that helped offset persistent inflationary pressures and improve operating margins. Godrej Consumer said its consolidated revenue is likely to increase in the June quarter, aided by underlying volume growth in the high single digit.   

IndusInd Bank reported a 3.3% sequential rise in net advances and a 3.8% increase in deposits for the June quarter. On a year-on-year basis, however, advances declined 2.3%, and deposits grew 4.5%.  

As for global cues, Asian equities were mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, supported by gains in Hong Kong, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2% and South Korea’s Kospi declined 2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bucked the trend, rising around 1%.  

The cautious mood reflects investor reluctance to take aggressive positions ahead of key macroeconomic events this week, particularly the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting. Markets broadly expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged in the near term.  

Wall Street remained closed on Friday for the US Independence Day holiday, but stock futures pointed to gains when trading resumes.  

Nasdaq futures advanced 0.6%, while S&P 500 futures added 0.2%, as optimism around the upcoming earnings season supported sentiment. Investors will be looking for signs that robust spending on artificial intelligence continues to underpin earnings growth among major technology companies.  

Oil prices declined after OPEC+ agreed to raise its production target by another 188,000 barrels per day from August, extending its series of monthly output increases.  

Brent crude slipped below $72 a barrel as traders factored in improved global supplies and recovering exports from the Gulf region.  

For India, softer crude prices are generally a positive, as they help ease imported inflation, improve the current account balance and reduce input costs for several sectors.  

Investor focus has now shifted to the US Federal Reserve, with markets increasingly confident that policymakers will keep interest rates on hold after recent economic data pointed to moderating inflation and a gradual cooling in the labour market.  

The minutes of the Fed’s previous policy meeting, due later this week, will be scrutinised for clues on the future interest rate trajectory.  

At the same time, the US earnings season is set to gather pace, with corporate results expected to offer fresh insights into the health of the world’s largest economy.  

In Asia, Samsung Electronics is in focus ahead of its quarterly earnings, with analysts expecting a sharp rise in profit driven by sustained demand for high-end memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications.  

The results could provide further evidence that AI-related investments continue to support the global technology sector.  

Source: Exchanges