Indian equity benchmarks recouped most intra-day losses in the dying hours but closed flat with a negative bias on Wednesday amid losses in Telecom and Banking stocks. For most part of the day benchmarks traded with a negative bias, amid report that India recorded 10,510 fresh Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The country reported a net reduction of 4,984 in active coronavirus cases to bring its count down at 143,416, which is 85.89 per cent lower than the September 18 peak of 1,017,754. India's share of global active coronavirus cases has declined to 0.56 per cent (one in 179). The caseload tally stands at 10,858,300. The country continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 17th among worst-hit nations by active cases. However, last-minute buying helped benchmark indices cut losses. Traders also took some support with the finance ministry's monthly report said growth and inflation outlook for 2021-22 portends more than full recovery, and that the country has become the COVID-19 vaccine hub of the world. Some optimism also came with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stating that the government has been pursuing the target of doubling farmers' income by 2022 and several interventions taken are showing a positive impact. He also said the government has adopted several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies that focus on higher incomes for the farmers. Traders also took a note of Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur's statement that gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) declined from Rs 8.96 lakh crore in March 2018 to Rs 6.09 lakh crore in September 2020 due to various measures taken by the government. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 19.69 points or 0.04% to 51,309.39, while the CNX Nifty was down by 2.80 points or 0.02% to 15,106.50.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets. The major averages subsequently pulled back sharply, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way lower amid weakness among stocks like Amazon and Apple. Traders were worried that the markets have become overbought as a new fiscal stimulus bill continues to slowly work its way through Congress. Negotiations over the previous bipartisan bill took months to complete, and it remains to be seen if Democrats will be able to keep their caucus together and pass a relief package through the reconciliation process. However, downside remained capped as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared to express support for more stimulus, as he said maintaining patiently accommodative monetary policy will be important to returning to a strong labor market but argued more needs to be done. Powell said it will require a society-wide commitment, with contributions from across government and the private sector. He added I am confident that with our collective efforts across the government and the private sector, our nation will make sustained progress toward our national goal of maximum employment.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday, extending their gain to an 8th straight session, after data showed a drop in US crude inventories. Data released by Energy Information Administration showed crude inventories in the US fell 6.6 million barrels last week (February 5) compared to expectations for an increase of 985,000 barrels. Gasoline inventories increased by 4.259 million barrels last week, nearly 2.5 times more than the expected increase, while distillate stockpiles fell 1.73 million barrels. A report released by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed crude inventories in the United States fell by 3.5 million barrels in the week to February 5, raising hopes about higher fuel demand. Crude oil futures for March rose $0.32 or 0.6 percent to settle at $58.68 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude gained $0.38 or 0.6 to settle at $61.47 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Continuing prevision session gain, Indian rupee ended higher against dollar on Wednesday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters. Traders took some solace with finance ministry's monthly report stating that the growth and inflation outlook for 2021-22 (FY22) portends more than full recovery, and that the country has become the COVID-19 vaccine hub of the world. Meanwhile, State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur stated that gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) declined from Rs 8.96 lakh crore in March 2018 to Rs 6.09 lakh crore in September 2020 due to various measures taken by the government. On the global front; dollar has sunk against major peers as optimism over monetary and fiscal support, robust corporate earnings and coronavirus vaccines bolstered risk sentiment. Finally, the rupee ended at 72.84, 3 paise stronger from its previous close of 72.87 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Wednesday's data were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 11871.53 crore against gross selling of Rs 8564.23 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 788.43 crore with gross sales of Rs 702.66 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 21.92 crore against gross selling of Rs 20.39 crore.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as big tech stocks slid amid an ongoing rotation of portfolio holdings that gave a boost to energy shares and kept the overall market near record highs. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday as investors kept tapping the brakes on runs in asset prices after taking in tepid U.S. inflation data and comments from the Federal Reserve chief affirming the outlook for a slow recovery. Indian markets ended flat on Wednesday as gains in heavyweight RIL, TCS and HDFC capped losses in banking stocks. Today, the start of session is likely to be weak amid mixed global cues. There will be some cautiousness as Fitch said that India's medium-term growth outlook will assume a more critical role in sovereign assessment due to higher deficits and a slower consolidation path. Also, traders will be concerned as India recorded 12,760 fresh Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The country reported a net reduction of 4,984 in active coronavirus cases to bring its count down at 143,416. India's share of global active coronavirus cases has declined to 0.55 per cent (one in 179). The caseload tally stands at 10,871,060. The country continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 17th among worst-hit nations by active cases. however, some respite may come later in the day as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimated India's gross domestic product (GDP) to bounce back to 10.4 per cent growth in FY22 driven by base effect, signalling that a meaningful recovery will not happen before FY23. Traders may take note of industry body CII's statement that steps taken by the government is helping the country's exports to record positive growth and the trend is expected to continue. There will be some buzz in insurance industry stocks with Irdai's annual report showing that the life insurance industry registered a decline of 8.4 per cent in net profit at Rs 7,728.30 crore in 2019-20. Cement industry stocks will be in focus as CARE Ratings in a report said outlook for the cement industry in FY22 seems sanguine due to the government's thrust towards infrastructure creation and development and it being the propeller of growth in the economy going forward. There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said international passenger traffic fell by 90.56 per cent to 18.55 lakh in March-December period of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the corresponding period of 2019. Meanwhile, India Pesticides Limited, an agrochemical technical company, has filed the draft red herring prospectus with market regulator SEBI to raise Rs 800 crore through a public issue. The IPO comprises fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 100 crore and an offer of sale through promoter and selling shareholders, aggregating up to Rs 700 crore.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• GAIL (India) has acquired 5% stake of the Indian Energy Exchange in its arm Indian Gas Exchange. 
• HDFC Bank is inviting applications from start-ups and solo entrepreneurs for its SmartUp grants. 
• TCS is planning to recruit 1,500 technology employees across the UK over the next year. 
• Infosys has enhanced its collaboration with TMH to deliver an immersive experience to its dealer ecosystem on the Infosys Meridian platform.