Nifty futures were trading 22 points or 0.20 per cent lower at 11,104 on Singaporean Exchange, suggesting a tepid opening for BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 on Thursday. Trends in coronavirus cases, escalated tensions between the US and China, along with quarterly results, will continue to sway investor sentiment today. Headline indices settled lower in the previous session. “After a 6% spike in Nifty over the last five days, the market is expected to consolidate for a couple of days, given flaring US-China trade relations and persistent rise in virus cases. We would advise investors to continue with their defensive portfolio approach given the high valuations and maintain stock-specific approach. Traders, on the other hand, are advised to stay cautious and keep booking profit at regular intervals,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Stocks in focus today:

Rossari Biotech: Rossari Biotech will list on the exchanges today after receiving a rave response to its Rs 500-crore initial public offering (IPO) from investors. The issue consisted of a fresh issue of equity shares of Rs 50 crore and an offer for sale of 1.05 crore shares by the promoters. The listing comes after the SBI Cards and Payment Services listed in March this year.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals: Glenmark Pharma announced top-line results from a Phase 3 clinical trial in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients conducted across seven clinical sites in India.

Larsen and Toubro: Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) reported a 68.73 per cent on-year fall in net profit at Rs 536.88 crore for the April-June quarter. The company had posted a consolidate profit for the same quarter was at Rs 1,697.62 crore last year.

HDFC Asset Management Company, Biocon: ABB India, Biocon, HDFC Asset Management Company, AU Small Finance Bank, Dish TV, Mphasis, PNB Housing Finance, Radico Khaitan, Repco Home Finance, SKF India, Speciality Restaurants, Sterlite Technologies, Tube Investments of India and Zensar Technologies, are among 49 companies that are scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings today.

Vodafone Idea: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the income tax department appeal against the Bombay High Court’s June 26 order that directed it to refund Rs 833 crore to telecom major Vodafone Idea in two weeks.

Axis Bank: Axis Bank’s banking operations head Naveen Tahilyani has quit within seven months, joining a string of senior executives who have left the private sector lender in the recent past, PTI reported citing sources as saying.