Today, after two straight days of gains means that the NSE Nifty is yet again staring at 5,300. Global cues are supportive though not by a great deal. A positive start is what we are looking for. A slew of big results are lined up and could swing the sentiment either way though we don’t see any major nasty surprise.It remains to be seen whether the Nifty manages to close above 5,300, which in recent past has proved to be a tough barrier to break. If it does that it could head for 5,350-5,400 in the near term. On the downside support is at 5,200. The bias remains cautiously optimistic but volatility will persist.
Inflation is a big worry and could play spoilsport. Though a CRR hike has already been discounted there are fears that the central bank may turn hawkish as far as policy rates are concerned. In the long run, the Government needs to overcome supply side constraints to contain prices.
We expect TCS to post 3.2% QoQ growth in PAT. HDFC Bank is projected to report ~19% jump in bottom-line YoY. Axis Bank is likely to report 2.3% YoY rise in PAT.
