Indian equity benchmarks erased intraday gains to end Monday's volatile session a marginally higher. Markets made optimistic start and stayed in green for most part of the day, as traders took encouragement as FICCI's overall Business Confidence Index has witnessed a decadal high of 74.2 in the current round on account of improvement in present conditions as well as expectations. The Index had stood at70.9 in the previous survey and 59 a year ago. It revealed recovery of demand conditions, improved capacity utilisation and a promising outlook on various operational parameters. The markets were also taking support with the finance ministry's statement that the Indian economy is likely to do better than the projection of an 8 per cent shrinkage in the current fiscal as economic activity gathers pace with mild stiffening of pandemic curve and the rollout of vaccines. However, key indices trimmed most of their initial gains in late afternoon session, as some concern came with Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian's statement that the country's financial sector has not really grown as fast as it should have and is still very, very small. For instance, he said, while India is the fifth largest economy in the world, the largest Indian financial institution - SBI - is ranked 55th in the world. Traders also got cautious, after the RBI data showed that India Inc's overseas direct investment fell by 31 per cent to $1.85 billion in February this year. Domestic companies made investments of $2.66 billion in their overseas subsidiaries and joint-ventures in the year-ago month, February 2020. Meanwhile. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme would lead to output worth $520 billion in India in the next five years, while industry asked for clarity on implementation across sectors. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 35.75 points or 0.07% to 50,441.07, while the CNX Nifty was up by 18.10 points or 0.12% to 14,956.20.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Monday with a continuous sell-off in high-flying tech shares put pressure on the market. Tech stocks remained the biggest losers, continuing the trend for the last few weeks. High-growth stocks, which were among the best performers last year, are particularly vulnerable as higher rates reduce the value of future cash flows. Apple has fallen 15% in the past month, while Tesla has dropped 34% in that period. Pandemic bets Zoom Video and Peloton have tumbled 24% and 30% over the past month. However, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher as investors piled into economic comeback plays after Senate approval of a new Covid stimulus package. The Senate passed a $1.9 trillion economic relief and stimulus bill, paving the way for extensions to unemployment benefits, another round of stimulus checks and aid to state and local governments. The Democrat-controlled House is expected to pass the bill later this week. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law before unemployment aid programs expire on March 14. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can meet safely indoors without masks, further boosting reopening hopes. The positive news boosted stocks banking on a strong economic recovery. On the economic data front, the Commerce Department said wholesale inventories spiked by 1.3 percent in January after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in December. Street had expected wholesale inventories to surge up by 1.3 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday on profit booking after moving sharply higher in early trading in reaction to reports of attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities. The initial upward move came as Saudi Arabia said some of the world's most protected oil infrastructure came under missile and drone attack on Sunday in an escalation of regional hostilities, raising concerns about Saudi Arabia's air defenses and the expanding capabilities of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The official Saudi Press Agency quoted an anonymous official in the Ministry of Energy as saying that a drone flew in from the sea and struck an oil storage site in Ras Tunura, the port run by Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Aramco. Crude oil futures for April fell $1.04 or about 1.57 percent to settle at $65.05 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude dropped $1.12 or 1.61 percent to settle at $ 68.24 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended lower against dollar on Monday on account of buying of American currency by banks and importers. Sentiments were downbeat after reversing two-month buying streak, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out Rs 5,156 crore from Indian markets in the first week of March amid profit booking and rising bond yields in the US. According to FPI statistics available with depositories, overseas investors pulled out a net Rs 881 crore from equities and Rs 4,275 crore from the debt segment between March 1-5, taking the total net withdrawals to Rs 5,156 crore. On the global front, pound slipped against a strong dollar on Monday, but strengthened against the euro, as the UK's relative success in COVID-19 vaccinations supported the British currency and data showed speculators were the most bullish in three years. Finally, the rupee ended at 73.25, weaker by 23 paise from its previous close of 73.02 on Friday.

The FIIs as per Monday's data were net seller in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9492.31 crore against gross selling of Rs 11288.63 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 105.10 crore with gross sales of Rs 962.16 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5.76 crore against gross selling of Rs 16.20 crore.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Monday as slumps in several Big Tech companies offset gains in many other parts of the market. Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday after starting the week by struggling for gains in what some analysts have described as a fragile environment. Indian markets ended flat on Monday as gains in metals and energy stocks were capped by losses in financials and FMCG space. Today, the markets are likely to open in green amid mixed global cues. Some support will come with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that the fiscal measures taken by the government have resulted in positive growth of 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of the current financial year. The minister further said that the gradual unlocking of the economy has eased supply-side disruptions enabling inflation to decline from 7.6 per cent in October, 2020 to 4.1 per cent in January 2021, mainly on account of decline in food inflation. She added that the economy is estimated to contract by 8 per cent during 2020-21 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there may be some cautiousness as the coronavirus cases in India jumped to 11,244,624 with 15,353 new infections reported across the country, according to Worldometer. The death toll, meanwhile, reached 157,966 with 76 fatalities in the last 24 hours. Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe with 117,737,718 infected by the deadly contagion. While 93,401,033 have recovered, 2,611,556 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 29,743,289 cases. Meanwhile, as per a report, the government is working on amendments to Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer) Act and Banking Regulation Act to facilitate the privatisation of public sector banks. Telecom stocks will be in limelight as the Telecom Department issued demand notes to Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea asking them to make stipulated payments for the spectrum they bought in the just-concluded auctions. Aviation stocks will be in focus with ICRA's report that India's domestic air traffic fell 37 per cent year-on-year to 78 lakh (7.8 million) passengers in February amid travel curbs and capacity restrictions due to the pandemic. There will be some reaction in banking sector stocks as Fitch Ratings said the impact of Covid-19 pandemic is likely to pose challenges to improving financial performance of Indian banks once asset-quality risks manifest in the financial year ending March 2022 (FY22).

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Cipla has voluntarily liquidated wholly-owned step-down subsidiary, Cipla (UK), with effect from March 5, 2021. 
• Tech Mahindra and ThoughtSpot have entered into partnership to offer Artificial Intelligence driven analytics for enterprises globally. 
• HDFC Bank has launched SmartUp Unnati, a dedicated programme for mentoring women entrepreneurs by women leaders at the bank. 
• Tata Motors' shareholders have approved hiving off its passenger vehicles business into a separate entity.