Indian equity benchmarks experienced heightened volatility on the last day of the monthly expiry and ended marginally in green amid buying in Healthcare, Consumer Durables and Realty counters. Markets made a slightly positive start as traders took some support with Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth's statement that Indian economy is showing momentum and the growth rate in the second quarter (July-September) is likely to be good. The economy grew at 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year. Some support came as provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign institutional investors net bought shares worth Rs 71.91 crore on November 29. However, markets soon slipped into red terrain and oscillated in a narrow range for most part of the session as traders remained on sidelines ahead of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for Q2 to be out later in the day for more cues. There was some cautiousness in the markets as the exit polls of five state elections to be out later in the day. But, markets erased all of their initial losses in final hour of trade and closed with marginal gains as some optimism remained among traders with National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) stating that the unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 6.6 per cent in the September quarter (Q2FY24) from 7.2 per cent a year ago. The unemployment rate in the March quarter of the previous fiscal was 6.8 per cent, while it was 6.6 per cent in April-June. The rate was 7.2 per cent in the third quarter of the previous fiscal. Some comfort also came with a private report stating that Indian economy is likely to continue its strong growth in the quarter to end of September, helped by a solid urban consumption and government spending, outpacing a slowing global economy squeezed by elevated interest rates and higher energy prices. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 86.53 points or 0.13% to 66,988.44 and the CNX Nifty was up by 36.55 points or 0.18% to 20,133.15.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling gain of around one and half percent. The surge by the Dow was due in large part to a spike by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud software company soaring by 9.4 percent. Salesforce skyrocketed after the company reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and provided upbeat guidance. However, the decrease by the Nasdaq came amid a rebound by treasury yields, as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bounced off its lowest levels in over two months. The increase in treasury yields came even though the Commerce Department released a report showing consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with economist estimates in the month of October. The report said the annual rate of consumer price growth decelerated to 3.0 percent in October from 3.4 percent in September. The slowdown matched expectations. Core consumer price growth also slowed in line with estimates, slipping to 3.5 percent in October from 3.7 percent in September. Core consumer prices exclude food and energy prices. The inflation readings, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending during the month. On the sectorial front, transportation stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, with the Dow Jones Transportation Average climbing by 1.4 percent. Considerable strength was also visible among healthcare stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday as the Energy Information Administration( EIA) data showed an increase of 1.61 million barrels in crude oil inventories last week versus expectations for a drop of 0.93 million barrels. Further, crude oil prices fell as traders grew more convinced that OPEC+, a group composed of OPEC plus its oil-producing allies, will not deliver on promised output cuts. OPEC+ released a statement that did not formally endorse production cuts, but individual countries announced voluntary reductions totaling 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024, with Saudi Arabia, the linchpin and largest member, leading the way. Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery fell $1.90 or about 2.4 percent to settle at $75.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery lost $0.27 or about 0.17 percent to settle at $82.83 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Rupee snapped a two-day rising streak on Thursday amid strengthening American currency overseas and rising crude oil prices. Traders were worried even after Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said Indian economy is showing momentum and the growth rate in the second quarter (July-September) is likely to be good. The economy grew at 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year. On the global front, the dollar edged up from a three-month low on Thursday but was still set to post its steepest monthly decline in a year as investors ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve was done with rate hikes ahead of a crucial inflation report later in the day. The euro dropped after lower-than-forecast French consumer prices data, a day after data showed price growth in Germany and Spain also slowed, suggesting downside risks to the euro area figure released later in the day. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.38 (Provisional), weaker by 6 paise from its previous close of 83.32 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 16945.48 crore against gross selling of Rs 12632.18 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1647.86 crore with gross sales of Rs 1343.74 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.13 crore against gross selling of Rs 12.29 crore.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling higher around one and half percent. Asian markets are trading lower in early deals on Friday even as Wall Street mostly saw gains and ahead of private factory activity surveys from across the region. Indian equity markets ended higher on Thursday amid volatility on the November expiry day. Today, markets are likely to make positive start on strong GDP data form India. Traders will get support as the Indian economy grew 7.6 per cent during the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2023-24, remaining the fastest-growing major economy. India's GDP growth for the April-June quarter grew 7.8 per cent. Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said that India's economic growth momentum will continue in the October-December quarter and the economy is poised to comfortably clock a 6.5 per cent growth rate for the full fiscal underpinned by investment and consumer momentum. In addition, after GDP data for the July-September quarter (Q2) were revealed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the growth numbers display the resilience and strength of the Indian economy adding that the government is committed to ensuring fast-paced growth. Further, support will also come as India's core sector output, that measures production by eight industries, grew 12.1 per cent in October compared to the same time last year. Besides, traders may also get encouragement as a labour ministry said retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 4.45 per cent in October from 4.72 per cent in September mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. However, there may be some cautiousness in the markets as Reserve Bank of India data showed that bank credit to industry decelerated to 5.4 per cent in October compared to 13.5 per cent in the year-ago month.

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

• Wipro's wholly owned subsidiary -- Wipro IT Services UK Societas has incorporated subsidiary namely Wipro Regional Headquarters Company in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
•  Infosys has collaborated with Shell New Energies UK (Shell), an international energy company, to accelerate adoption of immersion cooling services for data centers.
•  Tata Motors has commenced deliveries of state-of-the-art Tata Prima VX tipper truck with top-of-the-line safety features.
•  HCL Technologies has collaborated with Roadzen, a leading AI-driven auto insurance technology company, to harness the power of AI and data engineering to deliver benefits to both auto insurance carriers as well as their customer.