What are the major trading and investment cues for the trading week commencing on April 27, 2020?

Apart from being the expiry week, the coming week is also likely to be critical for a number of specific reasons. Here are the major cues for the week.

· The focus will be on the outcome of Templeton shutting down 6 debt funds as it raises questions over the financial health of debt issuers

· There has been a spike in COVID-19 cases in India and casualties. The bigger worry is the pandemic situation in the US with over 50,000 casualties already

· After the negative oil price shock, Brent at $20/bbl risks getting back to the 1998 lows. The markets will also be wary of another shock during Brent oil settlement this week.

· Keep an eye on downgrades to GDP growth for FY21. Already, Fitch has pegged FY21 growth 0.8% which is likely to pressure capital goods and cyclicals

· Fiscal stimulus looks unlikely due to budgetary constraints and that could weight negatively on the market sentiments

· Markets are expecting a decision on extension of lockdown and that will dampen the market spirits further as it will further impact output and productivity

· Overhang on financials will continue due to weak response to TLTRO 2.0 with the distinct risk-off funding pressures and insolvency risk for NBFCs

· Focus will be on some of the key earnings during the week including IndusInd, HDFC Life, Ambuja Cements, Adani, HUL, Axis Bank

· Auto sales and core sector numbers are expected this week and both are likely to be negative due to the prolonged lockdown.

· F&O expiry on April 30 will decide on unwinding pressures based on whether the lockdown is getting extended further or not

· After the failure of the Gilead clinical trials, markets will be keenly watching the outcome of Oxford Research in finding a cure/vaccine for COVIDI-19

· An important data set will include key global variables like US jobs data, Fed rates decision, PMI numbers, Euro area inflation, China industrial profits..