The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Friday as indicated by the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange amid weak global cues. On Thursday, the Sensex and Nifty rose for second straight session led by gains in heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Twins, Infosys and TCS.
SGX Nifty Update
The Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty Futures fell 1.14 per cent or 203 points to 17,203.
Asian Markets
Most of the Asian markets were trading lower with Japan's Nikkei down 1.92 per cent, Taiwan Weighted down 0.85 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng falling 0.85 per cent following weak closing on Wall Street.
US Markets
Stocks shed early gains and ended broadly lower on Wall Street Thursday after the head of the Federal Reserve said the central bank needs to take more aggressive action to fight high inflation.
In a panel discussion held by the International Monetary Fund, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed must move faster than it has previously to tackle inflation, which suggests sharp interest rate increases are likely in coming months.
The S&P 500 closed 1.5 per cent lower after having been up 1.2 per cent in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 per cent and the Nasdaq slid 2.1 per cent.
The afternoon sell-off left the S&P 500 flat for the week and knocked the Nasdaq into the red. Both indexes came into this week with two consecutive weekly declines.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 65.79 points to 4,393.66. The Dow dropped 368.03 points to 34,792.76. The Nasdaq slid 278.41 points to 13,174.65.
Gold and Crude Oil Price Check
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose 19 cents to $102.75 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for June delivery fell 45 cents to $106.80 a barrel.
Gold for June delivery fell $3.40 to $1,955.60 an ounce. Silver for May delivery fell 12 cents to $25.27 an ounce and May copper fell 7 cents to $4.65 a pound.
The dollar fell to 127.80 Japanese yen from 128.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.0842 from $1.0790.
Russia-Ukraine War Update
Satellite images released Thursday showed what appeared to be mass graves near Mariupol, and local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians there in an effort to conceal the slaughter taking place in the siege of the port city.
Satellite image provider Maxar Technologies released the photos, which it said showed more than 200 mass graves in a town where Ukrainian officials say the Russians have been burying Mariupol residents killed in the fighting.
The imagery showed long rows of graves stretching away from an existing cemetery in the town of Manhush, outside Mariupol.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused the Russians of “hiding their military crimes” by taking the bodies of civilians from the city and burying them in Manhush.
The Mariupol City Council said Thursday in a post on the Telegram messaging app that the graves could hold as many as 9,000 dead.
Foreign Flows
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 714 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 2,823 crore.
Earnings On April 22
Hindustan Zinc, Tata Metaliks and Aditya Birla Money will report their March quarter earnings today.
HCL Technologies
IT services company HCL Technologies on Thursday reported over a three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2022 at Rs 3,593 crore as it struck an optimistic note about the "buoyant" market environment and "strong momentum across verticals and service lines" to guide for 12-14 per cent revenue growth for FY23.
The net profit revved up from Rs 1,102 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year (Q4 FY21).
The company, however, pointed out that there had been an impact of one-time payout in March 2021 quarter, which had depressed the bottomline numbers for that period. HCL Tech explained that seen on a comparative basis, the Q4 FY22 net profit is up about 24 per cent year-on-year.
L&T Technology Services
L&T Technology Services on Thursday reported an increase of 34.7 per cent in consolidated net profit to Rs 262 crore for the quarter ended March 2022.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 194.5 crore in the same period a year ago.
"We achieved several milestones in FY22 – a dollar revenue growth of 20 per cent in constant currency, record high operating margins, and more than three-fold increase in patents filed by our engineers.
Paytm
Paytm owner One97 Communications on Thursday posted a shareholding update which showed that retail shareholders have more than doubled their stake in the company.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has also increased its stake in Paytm from 1.57 to 1.71 per cent in the quarter ended March 2022, according to the regulatory filing.
Foreign Portfolio Investors' shareholding more than halved in the company to 4.42 per cent in March 2022 quarter compared to 9.36 per cent stake held by them in December 2021 quarter.
