Q1 net sales growth may fall below 5% for 1st time

Here are experts' equity calls for the day on how the market is expected to trade:

Prabhat Awasthi, Nomura: June-quarter results suggest a continuation of the trend of steadily weakening topline growth. Net sales growth is estimated to fall below 5 percent for the first time in four years. The continuing slide in topline growth suggests that overall economic growth has likely not bottomed out yet.

Also Read - Beep, beep! 9 large cap stocks to sell ahead of April-June quarter earnings

Barry Knapp, Barclays: Although the overall tone of the Fed minutes was balanced, we would discount it given that June's employment report showed solid improvement in the US labour market. Moreover, we continue to expect the Fed to start tapering in September and to conclude its purchases in March 2014.