Markets to extend gains with a mildly positive start

The Indian markets went for a surprise rally in last session and the major benchmarks not only recovered their key psychological levels but posted decent gains of about a percent. Today, the start is likely to be in green and the traders will be getting support with the report of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that India appears to be much better placed with improved macro-economic fundamentals, as measures to eliminate shadow economy and tax evasion are expected to have positive impact on GDP. India expects to grow at around 7 per cent in the first half of the next financial year. However, there will be some cautiousness too with President Pranab Mukherjee issuing a note of caution that the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation decision could likely lead to a temporary slowdown in the economy and hurt the poor. On the other hand Reserve Bank of India former governor Duvvuri Subbarao has hailed the demonetisation measure introduced by PM Modi as creative destruction and the most disruptive policy innovation. There will be some buzz in the export oriented sector stocks, as in a major relief to exporters, the government has agreed to refund as much as 90% of their duty claims just within a week under the new goods and services tax (GST) regime.

The US markets made a mixed closing in last session after a choppy day of trade, though the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed to end the day at a new record closing high. There was some trepidation ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, with some indices trading in red, led by the Japanese market after the dollar showed signs of faltering ahead of Friday’s US jobs report.

Back home, after remaining in a consolidation mood for last two trading sessions, Indian benchmark indices showed dramatical up-move on Thursday, as trading sentiments turned bullish after US Fed minutes suggested a less hawkish stance from policymakers. Also underpinning the cautious streak of optimism has been a steady stream of upbeat factory and service sector surveys out of the US, Europe and Asia this week, prompting some banks to raise their global growth forecasts for 2017. On the domestic front, sentiments remained optimistic with the private report indicating that the government is expected to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP in the current financial year, despite recent demonetisation move and potential delay in roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Fiscal deficit has been pegged at Rs 5.33 lakh crore, or 3.5% of GDP, in 2016-17. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressing confidence that direct and indirect tax mop-up will surpass Budget estimate of Rs 16.3 lakh crore by March-end. Jaitley had in his Budget for 2016-17 fiscal put gross tax revenue estimates at Rs 16.3 lakh crore, about 11 percent higher than gross tax receipts of Rs 14.5 lakh crore for the previous fiscal. Indirect tax collections till November had shown a 26.2 percent jump to Rs 5.52 lakh crore when compared with a year ago collections. Going forward, market would be driven by corporate earnings, with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys scheduled to post their quarterly results on January 12 and January 13, respectively. the country is also gearing up to its annual budget, and investors hope the government would keep spending under control and promote growth after its move to ban higher-value banknotes paralysed large parts of the economy. On the global front, Asian markets ended the session on firm note on Thursday, buoyed by further gains on Wall Street and an overnight bounce in oil prices that bolstered energy and resource shares. Finally, the BSE Sensex rallied 245.11 points or 0.92% to 26878.24, while the CNX Nifty rose 83.30 points or 1.02% to 8,273.80.