Top things to look out for in the markets today

The Nifty is likely to remain weak and trade in a sideways band on Friday as investors and traders refrain from taking long positions ahead of the weekend and as overseas cues continue to be muted.

Meanwhile, stocks in Asia posted minor gains after Chinese authorities stepped into absorb panic from their markets. Markets on Wall Street closed with modest gains of 0.19-0.23 percent on Thursday. Commodities offered little or no clue on the direction which equities may take. Crude oil futures continued near 3-month lows, Copper and Gold futures were trading flat.

The Nifty is likely to see resistance coming in at 8,420-8,370 levels and the support at 8,325-8,275 points. The Index closed at 8,328, down 35 points on Thursday, falling for a 3rd day in a row.

Foreign funds continued to remain net sellers on Indian equities on Thursday. The sold net 254 crore rupees of stocks, their 5th straight day of sales and their sales in the derivatives markets stood at 1,247 crore rupees in Index Futures and 497 crore rupees in Stock Futures. These numbers point to further weakness in Indian stocks.

And now for a bit of good news: the IMF has retained its forecast for global growth at 3.8 percent for 2016. It pegs India's GDP expansion at 7.5 percent, making us the fastest growing economy in the world.


STOCKS TO WATCH:

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES: Top software exporter failed to meet sales forecast for the fourth time in a row. Q1 Sales rose 6 percent sequentially to 25,668 crore rupees, below analysts expectations. Net Profit fell 3.3 percent sequentially to 5,709 crore rupees. The software giant's attrition rate surged to 15.9 percent. Major global brokerages remain optimistic on TCS's futures growth and they maintain their `Buy' stance on the stock.

BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICALS: Brokerage CLSA has upgraded the stock to `Buy' from `Sell' and raised its price target to `320 per share from `205 earlier, citing the company to be the biggest beneficiary of the surge in orders in FY16. CLSA sees EPS double over FY15 - 17 as raises FY16 order flow by 17%.

WIPRO: Has finalised a deal to buy a digital Danish firm for 85 million euros.

ICICI BANK: The lender may sell its Housing Finance Arm for `4,400 crore rupees to private equity players, reports the Economic Times. The unit contributes to 10 percent of the lender's total loan book and focuses on financing affordable housing.

JSW ENERGY: signed a non-binding pact to buy out Monnet Ispat's 1,050 MW power plant in Odisha.

MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA: The auto giant is set to enter the branded oils and pulses category with a sales target for `1,000 crore rupees in the first year of operation.

TITAGARH WAGONS: Sets floor price of `104.64/share for its placement process that is aimed at raising 250 crore rupees from institutional investors.

(Image credits: openmarkets)