Markets likely to get optimistic start following firm global cues

Indian markets ended the choppy session in green on Thursday following gains in select banking and auto counters amid mixed global cues. Today, markets are likely to get optimistic start following firm global cues. Some support will come with report that India Inc expects private capex to gain further momentum in the short to medium term, as it sees green shoots of revival in sectors like real estate, construction, logistics and chemicals, among others. Traders may take note of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal’s statement that India will have to face global competition effectively to achieve the goal of becoming a prosperous and developed nation. However, there may be some cautiousness with a private report that the Reserve Bank of India’s curb on securitising loans having residual maturity of less than 365 days may hit the sale of short-term advances like micro-finance, personal loans and gold loans for a while. There will be some buzz in aviation industry stocks as credit ratings agency Icra said domestic air passenger volume increased 3 per cent to 23.4 million in November on a sequential basis propelled by resilient travel demand and onset of the peak holiday season. Also, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh said the Central government has accorded in-principal approval for the setting up of 21 greenfield airports across the country. Power stocks will be in focus as power deficit or gap between electricity required and supplied has fallen from two per cent in April this year to 0.1 per cent. There will be some reaction in insurance industry stocks with a private report that life insurance companies reported a 30 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in new business premiums (NBP) in November due to a stellar show by state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), even as private insurers saw their premium growth moderating. Pharma stocks will be in limelight with a private report that the domestic pharmaceutical industry recorded its highest growth rate for 2022 in November, at 17.3 per cent, after both volume sales and price growth picked up. Anti-infectives - antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals etc - clocked 15 per cent growth in November.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as investors interpreted data showing a rise in the weekly jobless claims as a sign the pace of interest rate hikes could soon slow. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks managed to end volatile session in green on Thursday following gains in select Capital Goods, Industrials and Banking counters. After making cautious start, key gauges traded higher in morning deals, as traders took support with a report that robust GST collections will help achieve the FY23 revenue growth target on the indirect taxes front, despite the impact of duty cuts on central excise and customs mop-up. Sentiments remained positive as the government extended export benefits under the tax refund scheme -- RoDTEP -- to chemicals, pharmaceuticals and products of iron and steel for a specified period with a view to boost shipments of these goods, amidst exports growth recording a contraction of 16.65 per cent in October. However, key gauges trimmed some gains in afternoon deals, as traders got anxious with India Ratings and Research’s (Ind-Ra) latest report stating that the many rising headwinds, both domestic as well as external, are expected to pull down India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 4-4.5 per cent in the second half of FY2023 (H2FY23), shaving off the better numbers in the first half. But, markets once again added gains in late afternoon deals, taking support from a report revealed that there is likely to be 90-110 lakh additions to the gig workforce by 2025 with more and more companies preferring to hire employees on project basis.  According to the report, companies have also started investing in gig work platforms and processes, which indicates how integral they are to the future of jobs growth in India. Some optimism also came as Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said that the reforms taken by Government have resulted in increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in the country. FDI inflows in India stood at $45.15 billion in 2014-2015 and have continuously increased since then, and India registered its highest ever annual FDI inflow of $84.84 billion (provisional figures) in the financial year 2021-22. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 160.00 points or 0.26% to 62,570.68 and the CNX Nifty was up by 48.85 points or 0.26% to 18,609.35.