Quarterly earnings of SBI, HUL, others to dictate markets trend this week

Markets will see stock-specific action this week, with sentiment being shaped by quarterly earnings of bluechips like State Bank of India (SBI) and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), experts said.

Bourses may also react to index of industrial production (IIP) and inflation data which were announced post market hours on Friday.

"We believe market is already trading at high and to go further, we need to have better corporate earnings as well as something positive for bank non-performing assets (NPAs)," said Abnish Kumar Sudhanshu, Director and Research Head, Amrapali Aadya Trading and Investments.

"In absence any major global events coming up in the near future, we will continue to witness stock-specific action this week."

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"Currently, market is witnessing profit-taking and slowdown in momentum at regular intervals. However, stock specific activity should continue to dominate. Overall, we do not expect any big correction coming in anytime soon," said Vijay Singhania, Founder-Director, Trade Smart Online.

Several companies are scheduled to announce their earnings this week, including Punjab National Bank, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India and Tata Power.

"Markets are currently trading at fair valuations and hence sustainability of earnings going forward is very important at current levels. Any disappointment on the earnings front and the outlook could result in profit booking," said Teena Virmani, Vice President, PCG Research, Kotak Securities. 

Over the past week, the Sensex ended up by 329.35 points (1.10%) while the Nifty gained 115.60 points (1.24%).

"This week as there are no major events we feel markets would remain range-bound with stock specific movements," said Foram Parekh, Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

On the macro front, industrial output rose at a slower rate of 2.7% in March, compared to 5.5% a year ago, according to data based on the revised base year of 2011-12.

Inflation based on the wholesale price index slipped to a four-month low of 3.85% in April as both food articles and manufactured items showed cooling in prices.

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