Domestic indices likely to get slightly positive start on Wednesday

Indian markets ended the volatile session at record closing highs on Tuesday as banking and IT stocks lifted the market mood. Today, domestic indices are likely to get slightly positive start even though Asian counterparts are trading under pressure. Market participants will be eyeing minutes from the US Fed's latest meeting will also be out later tonight. Domestically, investors will be looking ahead to the Services PMI data to be out later in the day for more cues. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 2,134.33 crore on July 4. Some support will be come as S&P Global Ratings’ analyst Neel Gopalakrishnan the companies tracked by the global rating agency S&P in India are in good credit shape due to strong underlying growth and accommodative balance sheets. Traders may take note of report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reviewed progress of implementation of Budget schemes with secretaries of finance ministry and Corporate Affairs Secretary. Besides the review of implementation of various schemes of Union Budget, the minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that the schemes are implemented in a time bound manner. However, there may be some cautiousness with Icra Ratings’ report that states continue to pay higher interest rates to investors for their debt, with the latest weighted average cost rising to 7.46 per cent at Tuesday's auctions wherein nine states raised Rs 16,200 crore. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed a consolidated framework for cybersecurity, laying down a common structure for various regulated entities like stock exchanges, brokers, asset management companies and portfolio managers, among others. Banking stocks will be in focus with a private report that commercial banks including one small finance bank posted a steady growth in advances on year-on-year (YoY) basis in the first quarter ended June 2023 (Q1FY24).

The US markets were closed on Tuesday for the Independence Day holiday. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Wednesday as investors await the release of private surveys on services activity in China and Japan.

Back home, rallying for the fifth straight session, Indian equity benchmarks settled at record closing highs yet again on Tuesday, as IT, Financial Services and TECK stocks lifted the market mood. Markets made a positive start as provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,995.92 crore on July 3. Some support also came as provisional data by the Reserve Bank of India showed India's services exports in May climbed 7.7% on year to $27.06 billion, while imports rose 2% to $15.5 billion. However, markets erased most of their initial gains and traded flat in morning deals as traders got anxious with data from project tracker the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showing that new investment projects announced in the manufacturing sector declined in the three months ended June 2023.  Some concern also came with private report stating that white-collar hiring in India witnessed 3 per cent decline in June as sectors such as IT, Retail, BPO, Education, FMCG and Insurance also showed cautious hiring sentiments. But, key indices gained traction in second half of trading session, taking support from reports that India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant asserted that there is no shortage of funds for good startups with strong business models. He said the innovation and startup ecosystem is strongly positioned to find solutions to challenges facing the world today. He advocated a multi-pronged approach of 'fund of funds', credit enhancement schemes, and a sharp focus on good governance for a robust startup ecosystem.  Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has asked exporters to focus on potential key sectors such as food, electronics and engineering and 12 major markets to boost exports. It was also suggested to focus on organising fairs and exhibitions at global scale. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 274.00 points or 0.42% to 65,479.05 and the CNX Nifty was up by 66.45 points or 0.34% to 19,389.00.