Factors that will guide the markets this week

The ongoing fourth quarter earnings season, global factors and macroeconomic data would guide the trends in the equity markets this week, analysts said.

Markets would also take cues from trading activity of foreign investors, rupee-dollar trend and movement of global oil benchmark Brent crude.

"Domestically, the next batch of Q4 earnings reports will drive stock-specific movements, Hero MotoCorp, Larsen & Toubro, BPCL, State Bank of India, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors are some of the big names in the list and the next phase of voting," said Pravesh Gour, senior technical analyst, Swastika Investmart Ltd.

PMI data for the services sector will also influence trading in the equity markets.

Industrial production data for March is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

"On Monday markets will react to the US employment data and Q4 results of companies like Dmart and Kotak Bank," Siddhartha Khemka, head - retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

"Moving forward, the ongoing results season will be a key detrimental factor for investors to align their portfolios.

"The market will also remain vigilant about the BoE (Bank of England) policy and GDP data from the euro zone.

"We expect a degree of consolidation in the market due to expensive valuations and any election-led jitters," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.

Last week, the BSE benchmark climbed 147.99 points or 0.20 per cent.

The NSE Nifty advanced 55.9 points or 0.24 per cent.

Ajit Mishra, SVP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said, "Looking ahead, attention will be on earnings reports and global market performance, particularly the US."

"As valuation discomfort rises, investors are becoming choosy and taking select bets. Uncertainty over interest rate, gloomy geopolitical scenario and FII fund outflows have prompted investors to book profits at regular intervals," Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.