Will Nifty test 6000 on Bernanke's Fed tapering views?

The market may show possible gains today on the back of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's views that monetary policy will remain highly accommodative even as the central bank could start to scale back its bond buying later this year.

Back home, the BSE Sensex rose 97.50 points to close at 19948.73 on Wednesday, and the Nifty gained 18.05 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 5973.30.

In big earnings today, TCS reports their April-June quarter results. In a CNBC-TV18 poll, dollar revenue growth is seen up 3 percent at USD 3142 million. Profits may grow 5 percent quarter-on-quarter but margins could come slightly lower.

A steady set of numbers is expected from Kotak Mahindra Bank. On a standalone basis, net interest income may see 28 percent growth and margins could be around 4.5 percent. Meanwhile Axis Bank may see 26 percent net interest income growth and margins could come in flat.

Other company which are expected to announce first quarter earnings today are IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, Mind Tree, DB Corp, Rallis India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Sasken, Supreme Inds, VGuard, Essar Ports, GCCL Infra, Honeywell Auto, Info Edge, Infotech ENT, Ingersoll Rand, Magma Fin, Blue Star Info and VTM.

Yes Bank and HDFC Bank hint that they may have to raise deposit and lending rates even as banking secretary says, PSU banks are under no pressure to cut rates.

GVK and GMR are likely to in focus. In a CNBC-TV18 exclusive, the aviation ministry mulls a proposal to remove user development fee from the revenue sharing pact between private airport operators and the Airports Authority of India. Mumbai and Delhi airports stand to gain but AAI will lose over Rs 2,000 crore. 

In other stock specific action- Blackstone will acquire a majority stake in Chennai-based auto part maker Agile Electric Works and its listed arm, Igarashi Motors. The deal is estimated to be about USD 100 million. Igarashi's parent company Agile Electric and Blackstone will make open offer for the company's shares for up to 79.54 lakh shares at Rs 65 a share. Agile Electric currently holds 62.8 percent in Igarashi Motors. 

Global cues

US markets ended modestly higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the timeline for winding down the central bank's stimulus program was not set in stone and the timeline depended on the economic outlook. He made the comments on Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee as part of his twice-yearly report to Congress on monetary policy. On Thursday, he will appear before the Senate Banking Committee.

Asian markets are trading mixed. Shanghai, though, is down nearly 1 percent. Average new home prices for June have jumped 6.8 percent year-on-year, higher than a forecast for a 6 percent gain. Property shares are cracking on fears of more property curbs to tame prices. Elsewhere, Nikkei has hit an 8-week high while Kospi is weighed down by renewed weakness in yen.

In Europe, markets closed higher following Bernanke's testimony.

In other asset classes, bond yields could trade higher as market braces for supply in bonds through open market sales by the Reserve Bank today.

In the currency space, the euro holds above 1.31 to the dollar.The dollar index is below the 83 mark, but steady as Bernanke still left intact the prospect of the fed scaling back stimulus later this year. Brent crude is hovering around USD 108 a barrel. Gold drops over a percent to USD 1277 an ounce.