Flat opening seen for Nifty, Sensex amid mixed results

Domestic markets are likely to open on a flattish tone on Monday, amid mixed results during the weekend. Gift Nifty is ruling at 24,405 against Nifty futures close of 24,400 on Friday. State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Avenue Supermart (DMart) reported a drop in profits for the Q4 of FY25. Indian Bank, on the other hand, reported a rise in profits.

According to IDBI Capital Equity Research, the Indian equity market remained resilient in April, buoyed by a strong performance from large banks, few FMCG companies and a late rebound in select IT stocks.

“However, at current valuation levels, the risk-reward profile appears less favourable for making aggressive equity allocations. As the global economic landscape continues to evolve, export-oriented sectors such as IT, auto components, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals may face headwinds, potentially weighing on their revenue growth. On the earnings front, Q4 results have so far fallen short of expectations, with several leading domestic-facing companies — including HUL, Nestle, and Maruti — citing weak consumer demand as a key reason for subdued performance,” they added.

Headwinds

“The Indian market may face near-term headwinds stemming from ongoing global trade uncertainties and underwhelming Q4 earnings results so far. Currently, the Nifty 50 is trading near one standard deviation above its 10-year average based on 1-year forward EPS estimates. In the absence of strong domestic catalysts and amid external policy risks, we expect the market to remain rangebound in the short term. As a result, we anticipate a more stock-specific environment going forward, where selective opportunities will outperform broader indices,” it further said.

The coming week is crucial, packed with key domestic and global triggers, said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd. “With developments regarding tariff and geopolitical tensions with Pakistan still remain on the radar. On the macroeconomic front, investors would be eyeing the HSBC Composite PMI and HSBC Services PMI Final data. While on the global front, Fed Interest Rate Decision is due on May 7 where they would be discussing the future rate cut path,” it further said.

Motilal Oswal Financial said:: the market has rebounded smartly over the last two months, entirely erasing its YTD decline. The Nifty is currently trading 2.9% higher in CY25YTD. With the current rally, Nifty trades at 21x FY26E earnings, near its LPA of 20.6x. While near-term challenges such as global macros, trade wars, and a weak 4QFY25 will keep the market volatile and jittery, we believe that the medium- to long-term growth narrative for India remains intact. Our model portfolio stance remains unchanged, with a distinct bias towards large-caps and domestic plays, given the current volatile backdrop.We are OW on BFSI, IT, Industrials, Healthcare, and Telecom, while we are UW on Oil & Gas, Cement, Automobiles, Real Estate, and Metals.