Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for the third consecutive session on Monday driven by gains in Capital Goods, Metal and Industrials shares amid favourable trends in global markets. The broader indices also traded in tandem and rose in the range of 0.9%-1%. Markets made a gap-up start and stayed in green for whole day as sentiments got a boost with a survey by prominent economic think-tank NCAER showing that an all-round improvement in business sentiments in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose from 128 in the first quarter of the current fiscal to 140.7 in the second. Besides, reiterating India's commitment to embracing disruptive technologies, particularly AI, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool to fight poverty, deliver goods and services to remote areas, and reskill the workforce for the future. Key indices extended gains in second half of trading session and closed near day's high points, taking support from the Reserve Bank of India's statement that India's foreign exchange reserves increased by $2.579 billion to $586.111 billion in the week ended on October 27. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $2.363 billion to $583.532 billion. Traders also took a note of report that steps such as curbs on inbound shipments of certain goods, production linked incentive scheme and mandatory quality norms are helping the country reduce imports of non-essential products such as TV, tyres, wallpaper and AC gas compressors. According to an analysis of the commerce and industry ministry, import restrictions imposed on tyres helped cut the inbound shipments by 74 per cent to $74 million in 2022-23 from $276 million in 2019-20. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 594.91 points or 0.92% to 64,958.69 and the CNX Nifty was up by 181.15 points or 0.94% to 19,411.75.

The US markets ended higher on Monday as traders continued to express optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last Wednesday combined with softer than expected jobs data last Friday has led to optimism that the central bank is done raising interest rates. However, trading activity remained somewhat subdued with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines. Several Fed officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, are due to speak in the coming days, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on the U.S. trade deficit, initial jobless claims and consumer sentiment. On the sectoral front, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets. Steel stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, however, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index climbing by 1.5 percent. Significant strength was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index. On the other hand, airline stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.8 percent. Natural gas, oil service and commercial real estate stocks also saw considerable strength, partly offsetting the strength in the aforementioned sectors.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Monday on reports that Iranian oil exports have declined for a second straight month in October contributed as well to the uptick in oil prices. Further, some support also came in as confirmations from Russia and Saudi Arabia that they will extend their voluntary production and supply cuts till the end of the year. Saudi Arabia confirmed that it would continue with its additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day in December. Russia has announced that it would continue its additional voluntary cut of 300,000 barrels per day. Benchmark crude oil futures for December delivery rose $0.31 or 0.4 percent to settle at $80.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery gained $0.29 or 0.34 percent to settle at $85.18 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended lower on Monday despite positive trend in domestic equities. Traders were worried as Foreign Portfolio Investors' (FPIs) selling spree continues as they pulled out over Rs 3,400 crore from the Indian equity markets in the first three trading sessions of November on rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Investors overlooked Reserve Bank of India's statement that India's foreign exchange reserves increased by $2.579 billion to $586.111 billion in the week ended on October 27. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $2.363 billion to $583.532 billion. On the global front, U.S. dollar extended its decline on Monday, having fallen by the most since July last week after the Federal Reserve dialled down its hawkish rhetoric and U.S. data showed signs of moderation. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.21 (Provisional), weaker by 1 paisa from its previous close of 83.20 on Friday.

The FIIs as per Monday's data were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8184.88 crore against gross selling of Rs 8270.35 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 9029.54 crore with gross sales of Rs 8467.67 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7.98 crore against gross selling of Rs 5.38 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Monday as investors awaited guidance from a host of Federal Reserve policymakers later in the week on the central bank's policy path. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Tuesday ahead of trade data coming out of China, as well as a rate decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Indian markets ended higher for a third consecutive session on Monday amid hopes that major central banks have reached the end of their historic rate-hike cycle. Today, markets are likely to get negative start due to consolidation phase after three days of consistent buying. Also, weakness in Asian counterparts may dampen sentiments. Investors are awaiting China's trade data as well as Q2 earnings from India Inc. for more directional cues. That apart, they will also track voting trends in Mizoram and Chhattisgarh for Assembly elections. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent domestic sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth net Rs 549.37 crore on November 6, 2023. However, some respite may come later in the day as credit rating agency Fitch ratings in its latest Global Economic Outlook report said the Indian economy has the potential to clock 6.2 per cent annual average growth rate in the medium term during the 2019-27 period. The agency raised the projection by 0.7 percentage points from 5.7 per cent estimated for 2013-2022, primarily due to improved employment rate and better working-age population forecast. Traders may take note of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that India's G20 presidency had provided a clear policy direction to address the needs of the majority of the global population whose voices were often unheard in multilateral forums. Meanwhile, the government is likely to hold a series of meetings in November to review, and streamline processes in indirect taxation, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Auto stocks will be in focus as data shared by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) showed that during October this year, total sales of 2.12 million units were recorded compared to 2.29 million units during October 2022. On the other hand, three-wheeler (3W) sales were up by 46 per cent, commercial vehicles by 10.3 per cent, and tractors by 6.2 per cent during the period under review. There will be some reaction in insurance industry stocks as the data shared by the General Insurance Council showed that the monthly premiums of non-life insurance companies grew by 13.65 per cent in October this year to Rs 23,814.64 crore, up from Rs 20,954.89 crore in the same period last year, aided by healthy growth across segments. However, the public sector general insurance companies printed a 3.62 per cent de-growth across the time period. Meanwhile, Mamaearth will list on bourses today. The IPO price was fixed at Rs 324 per share.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Bharti Airtel has entered into a SPA with Manipura Digital Infrastructure Opco for transfer of Company's entire stake in Firefly Networks (Firefly) for a consideration of Rs 6.05 crore. 
• Asian Paints' wholly-owned subsidiary -- Asian Paints International, Singapore has incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary in Qatar. 
• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone's flagship port -- Mundra Port has set another record by handling 16.1 MMT of cargo in October, the highest-ever volume by any port in India. 
• L&T's construction arm -- L&T construction has secured a prestigious project for its Buildings & Factories and Transportation Infrastructure businesses from the GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport.