Corporate earnings, US Fed interest rate decision to drive markets in holiday-shortened week: Analysts

Quarterly earnings from corporates, the US Fed interest rate decision and other global trends will be the major driving factors for determining movement in the domestic equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said.

Besides, factors like trading activity of foreign investors, global oil benchmark Brent crude and rupee-dollar trend would also influence trading. Domestic equity markets would remain closed on Wednesday on account of Maharashtra Day.

"Domestically, the next batch of Q4 earnings reports will drive stock-specific movements," said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd. Monthly auto sales figures will be announced at the beginning of May, and the next phase of voting will be significant, he said.

"On the global front, the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on May 1st will be important. Economic data releases from China and the US, along with movement in the global currency market, will also be the factors to consider," Meena added.

Major corporate earnings announcements this week are from Tata Chemicals, Central Bank of India, IOC, Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, MRF and Titan.

"The upcoming US Fed policy, US non-farm payroll data will dictate the global market, while the ongoing Q4 earnings reports are poised to influence the domestic market dynamics," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"We expect market momentum to resume with a focus on stock-specific action due to the ongoing result season and sector rotation at play," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Last week, the BSE benchmark advanced 641.83 points or 0.87 per cent, and the NSE Nifty climbed 272.95 points or 1.23 per cent.