Market may be cautious ahead of expiry; Maruti, Bharti eyed

The market may be cautious ahead of January Futures and Options (F&O) expiry today. However, global cues are supportive with both the US and Asian markets in green. Asian markets are in the green in early trade, after better-than-expected Japanese exports data and South Korean GDP figures. The markets also took a positive lead from Wall Street. Nikkei is up over one and a half percent, with a broad-based rally across all sectors. Japan's annual exports grew in December for the first time in 15 months. Korean market are trading flat with a positive bias as the fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4 percent from the previous quarterIn the US, equities ended higher, with materials spiking more than 2.5 percent on the back of more executive orders from President Donald Trump. The S&P 500 rose about 0.66 percent, touching record intra-day highs as well as on the closing front. The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI for January rose to 55.1, from 54.3 in December, lifted by a surge in new orders. Existing home sales fell 2.8 percent in December for the US.The President signed orders smoothing the path for the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota access oil pipelines in a move to expand energy infrastructure and roll back key Obama administration environmental actions. Oil producers in Canada and North Dakota are expected to benefit from a quicker route for crude oil to US Gulf coast refiners.In Europe, markets closed higher as investors digested fresh economic data and earnings reports. In the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court said that the government will need Parliamentary approval to start Brexit negotiations with the European Union (EU). The FTSE 100 ended marginally flat, while the CAC 40 and DAX ended higher by 0.18 percent and 0.43 percent, respectively.In India, benchmark indices extended positive momentum for the second consecutive session Tuesday, with the Nifty closing a percent higher on short covering ahead of expiry of January derivative contracts tomorrow and ahead of Union Budget that will be presented on February 1. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 258.24 points to 27375.58, the highest level since November 10, 2016. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 84.30 points at 8475.80, led by HDFC Group, auto, infra and oil stocks.Among stocks to watch today will be Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Ashok Leyland and Maruti. In key earnings, Maruti Suzuki will report its number on Wednesday. A CNBC-TV18 poll shows that the company may report a whopping 74 percent surge in its profit. The company’s realisations is likely be aided by higher exports as well as success of premium vehicles Brezza and Baleno. Wipro will also post its earnings on Wednesday. A CNBC-TV18 poll expects constant currency growth of 1 percent. An absence of a wage hike may aid margins, while the firm’s Q4 guidance is seen at 2.5-4.5 percent Bharti Airtel, the country's largest telecom operator by subscriber base, has reported a massive 65.5 percent decline in third quarter profit at Rs 503.7 crore QoQ, which was far lower than analysts' estimates, despite 5 percent decline in finance cost. It was hit by exceptional loss, lower revenue and weak operational performance. Revenue during the quarter fell 5.3 percent to Rs 23,335.7 crore compared with Rs 24,671.5 crore in previous quarter as India business impacted by Reliance Jio's free services and demonetisation.Wockhardt posted a dismal Q3 performance as subdued US business and demonetisation in India and continued remediation costs hit its business. The company’s margins crashed to 2 percent. Biocon reported a strong performance with a 30 percent jump in its revenues.The US dollar held firm against the yen and euro, after several days of losses in the wake of Trump's inaugural speech promising more trade protectionism, as the US’ economic outlook was still seen better than that of Europe or Japan.Crude prices remained soft ahead of weekly US inventory data. Increased drilling in the United States also weighs on prices. Among metals, gold prices held steady, but recovery in the dollar from recent lows kept a lid on the gains in the commodity.Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is a part of Reliance Industries that owns Network 18 Media & moneycontrol.com