Market could rally around 5%: Religare

Here are experts equity calls for the day on how the markets are expected to trade:

Jason Todd, Religare: A favourable outcome for the Congress in the UP elections would be a significant sentiment booster for the markets. We think the market could rally around 5% but it is unlikely to provide any near-term boost to earnings. For now we will wait on the sidelines and stick to our call of 16% upside this year.

Michael Kurtz, Nomura: We believe fundamentals remain supportive of higher equity prices in Asia. Any pullback, as the rally consolidates, may not be very deep as the easing cycle gathers momentum over the coming months. India outperformed the region for the fourth straight week as the RBI indicated the start of the rate cut cycle & some signs of improvement in leading indicators.