Markets Witnessing Volatile Trades

After a poor start to the earnings season by Infosys on Friday, the markets are trading volatile at the start of this week. The Wholesale Price Inflation data is expected to come in today.

In the last week, the IIP and CPI data was announced. The IIP figure came in positive and higher than expected, while the CPI data showed that inflation has eased out. The WPI inflation data is therefore crucial for the markets and for the RBI’s next move. The fuel hike by the UPA government may have pushed the inflation a little higher to 7.73% as per the market consensus, and hence, the markets are now trading volatile.

The Asian markets are trading on a mixed note at this time. The Hang Seng is marginally down, while Nikkei and Shanghai are each up 0.5%.

The Realty index is up nearly 1% at this moment. Healthcare is also up 0.53% on expectations of better earnings. Index heavyweight RIL is also expected to report better Q2 earnings (sequential) today, ahead of which the Oil & Gas index is up 0.3%. Bankex, though, is down 0.5% at this time.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bajaj Auto is up 1% and is the top index gainer. As mentioned above, RIL is up 0.8% on expectations of better earnings. Hindalco, Cipla and Dr. Reddy’s Labs are also in the gainers list. Infosys has tanked another 1% today despite giving poor guidance on Friday. The shares of GAIL India are the top losers, down by 1.3% in this morning. Maruti Suzuki is also down 1.2%.

Cement stocks have surged again today on positive investor sentiment. The shares of Axis Bank are also up 0.2% ahead of its Q2 results. The market expects the company to report 21% jump in its net profit.

Kingfisher Airlines is up 4% as the management is expected to meet the employees. Ahead of this meeting, United Breweries and United Spirits are also trading with 3% gains each.

The overall market breadth, indicating the health of the market, is positive. A total of 1239 stocks have advanced, 885 have declined and 96 have remained unchanged.

Ahead today, we expect markets to continue with this volatility. Events to watch are the WPI data and corporate results.