India’s equity benchmark indexes are poised to open little changed on Monday, as better-than-expected first-quarter earnings from heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries helped offset global trade concerns.
The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,993 points as of 7:56 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open near Friday’s close of 24,968.4.
India’s top two private banks, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits on Saturday, driven partly by higher interest income.
HDFC Bank’s profit rose 12.2% despite a five-fold jump in provisions for bad loans, while ICICI Bank posted a 15.5% profit growth, helped by healthy loan growth.
Brokerage firm Jefferies raised the price target on the shares of both lenders while maintaining its “buy” rating.
Meanwhile, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries beat forecasts and posted a 78% surge in first-quarter profit on Friday, driven by strong growth across key businesses and gains from the sale of its stake in Asian Paints.
While earnings updates from index heavyweights will be pivotal for market direction, uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and shifting expectations on U.S. rate policy could act as counterweights, two analysts said.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that a trade deal with India was very close, ahead of the August 1 deadline when duties on most U.S. imports are set to rise again.
Asian equities held ground on the day, as the Japanese government election setbacks were no worse than already priced in. MSCI’s broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan eased 0.1%.
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