● Quarterly Earnings: December quarter earnings will start soon. There is a likelihood that the earnings upgrade cycle may halt for the time being. It is being expected that sectors like Autos which have more to do with the Chip shortgae issue, which is getting better at the margin, Cement, Metals could see some cut in Consensus nos. At the same time, Earnings from IT cos and also a few BFSI cos are expected to be better than market expectations. ● Covid: Cases/Vaccinations: Covid cases have surged in the country as India witnessed 1400+ Omicron cases by Dec-end and total daily cases shot up to ~23k. Several states have put covid related restrictions such as closure of theatres and gyms, night curfews and reduced capacity in restaurants, bars etc. With >1.4bn doses administered, ~60% of eligible population was fully vaccinated.
● Unlock: With fall in Covid cases, states eased restrictions by allowing higher capacity, longer working hours etc. However, Omicron variant has started to pose a risk to phase-wise unlocking in some states . Infact, States like Maharshtra & Delhi have already started to put some curbs back on including Schools, Theatres etc. Some states have cut down on Daily Flights from affected Cities. With the Rapid Spread of this variant, State Govts are expected to react in different ways though. As of now Hospitalisation and Mortality- both seem to be quite low, even in Countries like the US where cases are at an time high, but Mortality is under control.
● Politics-Farm Laws: After the farm laws were repealed, farm unions ended their year-long agitation and left the sites they occupied on Delhi borders as the government accepted most of their demands in a signed letter.