Markets likely to open in green on Thursday

Indian markets ended volatile in red on Wednesday amid selling pressure in the final hour of the trade as investors tracked the Ukraine crisis. Today, markets are likely to start session in the positive zone following Asian peers. Traders will be taking encouragement as the finance ministry said with the muted impact of the third wave of the pandemic on economic activity, the Indian economy may undergo an economic reset by end of the year, clocking 9 per cent growth in 2021-22 (FY22) and around 8 per cent in 2022-23 (FY23). Some support will come as an RBI article stated that the 2022-23 Budget proposals and the recent monetary policy announcements have set the tone for a durable and broad-based economic revival which has started gaining traction as the nation emerges from the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traders may take note of Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri’s statement that while the government is prepared for any situation arising from the rise in crude oil prices, the steep increase in prices has not impacted domestic demand so far. However, there may be some cautiousness as Acuite Ratings & Research said India’s FY22 current account deficit faces mild upside risk from high commodity prices. The wider merchandise trade deficits pulled India's Q2FY22 current account into the negative territory. There will be some buzz in the jewelary industry stocks as industry body GJEPC said Gems and jewellery exports rose by 6.5 per cent to $32.37 billion during April-January this fiscal. The exports stood at $30.40 billion in the same period of the previous year. Edible oil industry stocks will be in focus as industry body SEA said the country's oilmeal export declined by 65 per cent year-on-year to 1.76 lakh tonnes in January this year, mainly due to fall in shipments of soyabean and rapeseed meal. In January 2021, the country's oilmeal export stood at 5.01 lakh tonnes. There will be some reaction in mines and mineral industry stocks as the mines ministry said India's mineral production rose 2.6 per cent in December 2021 over the same month a year ago.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors heaved a sigh of relief after Fed FOMC release minutes indicated that the Fed intends to raise interest rates, but it would be done at a moderate pace. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Thursday amid mixed global cues.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks swung between gains and losses throughout the session and ended marginally lower on Wednesday, as investors’ monitored situation between Russia and Ukriane. Key gauges made positive start, as traders took some support with SBI research report stated that India can add $20 billion to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) if the country can reduce by 50 per cent the dependence on imports from China by leveraging the production linked incentive schemes. However, indices turned choppy and extended losses in morning deals, as traders turned cautious with government data showing that exports from special economic zones (SEZs) grew at a slower pace as compared to the growth of overall outbound shipments from the country during the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Traders also took note of a private report expected that RBI to leave key policy rates unchanged throughout the first half of 2022, despite retail inflation rising to 6.01 per cent in January, and likely to remain elevated till April. After the initial fall, the benchmark tried to inch higher in afternoon deals, taking support from the Finance Ministry's Monthly Economic Review stated that the Indian economy is poised to grow at the quickest pace among the league of large nations on the back of various initiatives taken by the government in Budget 2022-23. It said the current year may as well end with an economic reset manifest of a post-COVID-19 world. Manufacturing and Construction will be the 'growth drivers', triggered by the PLI schemes and public capex in infrastructure. However profit taking in the final hours pared all the gains and pushed the indices lower. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 145.37 points or 0.25% to 57,996.68 and the CNX Nifty was down by 30.25 points or 0.17% to 17,322.20.