Snapping the two-day winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with negative bias in the volatile session on Thursday largely due to selling in IT, TECK and Realty stocks. Key gauges made a slightly positive start but soon turned volatile as investors remained on sidelines ahead of Consumer Price Index (CPI) or retail inflation and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data to be out later in the day for more directional cues. Sentiments remained cautious as the International Monetary Fund's Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, Ruud de Mooij said that India has a high debt like that of China but the risks associated with it are not as great as that of its northern neighbour. Some concern came as Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri warned surging oil prices could hinder the economic recovery of many nations by curbing demand. Some cautiousness also came in as provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth Rs 421.77 crore on October 11. Markets remained in lackluster mood in late afternoon deals, as traders' body CAIT flagged the 'inordinate delay' in the roll-out of a national e-commerce policy and consumer protection rules, saying the delay in their implementation has provided an opportunity to certain foreign e-commerce players to damage domestic retail trade. However, losses remained capped as some support came as India and the United Kingdom (UK) are likely to sign a Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of October as both parties aim to iron out differences on key issues, including rules of origin and visas for Indian professionals. Traders also took a note of Federation of Indian Export Organisations' (FIEO) study stating that aggressive marketing strategy including support from the government can help Indian businesses tap $112 billion export potential in ten countries like the US and UK in three years. It said that to tap this potential, a proper strategy is required. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 64.66 points or 0.10% to 66,408.39 and the CNX Nifty was down by 17.35 points or 0.09% to 19,794.00.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday after the Labor Department released a report showing U.S. consumer prices rose by slightly more than expected in the month of September. The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.4 percent in September after increasing by 0.6 percent in August. Street had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent in September, matching the increase seen in August as well as street estimates. The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth was unchanged at 3.7 percent, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth slowed to 4.1 percent in September from 4.3 percent in August. Further, a renewed surge by treasury yields weighed on markets, with yields regaining ground following a notable two-day pullback. On the sectoral front, Housing stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 4.0 percent. Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Airline stocks also saw considerable weakness despite upbeat earnings from Delta (DAL), resulting in a 2.6 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Tobacco, biotechnology and gold stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday after data showed a sharp jump in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended October 6th. Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventory in the US rose by 10.176 million barrels in the week to October 6th, the largest weekly rise since mid-February. However, oil prices pared early gains as the dollar rose after hot consumer price inflation report suggested the Fed might not be done raising rates. Benchmark crude oil futures for November delivery fell $0.58 or about 0.7 percent to settle at $82.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, Brent crude for December delivery added $0.18 or about 0.2 percent to settle at $86 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Rupee settled lower against dollar on Thursday as rising crude oil prices dented the investor sentiment. Market participants were also awaiting the industrial production data for August and inflation numbers for September to be released later in the day. Some concerns also came as Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri warned surging oil prices could hinder the economic recovery of many nations by curbing demand. On the global front, Russian rouble leapt on Thursday to a more than two-week high against the U.S. dollar, after President Vladimir Putin ordered the mandatory sale of foreign currency revenues for some exporters to buttress the currency. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.24 (Provisional), weaker by 6 paisa from its previous close of 83.18 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday'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 12644.83 crore against gross selling of Rs 12823.10 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 789.63 crore with gross sales of Rs 770.15 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.91 crore against gross selling of Rs 7.89 crore.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday after Treasury yields surged as stronger-than-expected inflation data revived Fed rate-hike worries. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. Indian markets snapped their two-day winning streak and ended lackluster session in red terrain on Thursday. Today, markets are likely to get gap-down opening tracking sell-off in global peers following the fresh spike in US bond yields. There will be some cautiousness after Infosys narrowed its revenue growth guidance for the full year at the upper end and has now guided for revenue growth of 1-2.5 percent for the full year. This comes after it sharply slashed the guidance last quarter to 1-3.5 percent from 4-7 percent. Persistent foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth net Rs 1,862.57 crore on October 12, 2023. Traders will be concerned as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said domestic consumption and investment demand will drive economic growth, but inflationary pressures may remain elevated warranting greater vigilance by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, some respite may come with strong macro-economic data. The data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that India's industrial output grew by 10.3 percent in August. At 10.3 percent, the latest industrial growth figure as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is the highest in 14 months. Also, India's headline retail inflation rate fell to 5.02 percent in September, thanks to a huge drop in vegetable prices. At 5.02 percent, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation print for September is 181 basis points lower than August's 6.83 percent. Traders may take note of report that Union Minister Piyush Goyal asked the industrialists of the country to accelerate production activity and contribute to making India a global hub for manufacturing. The Minister emphasized the Government's steadfast commitment to providing consistent policies while acknowledging the pivotal role and the support from industry leaders. Banking stocks will be in focus as the results of the seventeenth round of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry-Indian Banks Association (FICCI-IBA) survey showed that the health of banks has witnessed a notable turnaround, characterized by stronger bank balance sheets and a gross Non-Performing Asset (NPA) ratio at a decade low. Meanwhile, private report noted that the domestic steel and cement industry will require an additional Rs 47 lakh crore investment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Investors will continue to keep eye on quarterly earnings report.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Infosys has reported 3.14% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,215 crore for Q2FY24 as compared to Rs 6,026 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. 
• Maruti Suzuki has started exports of its much-loved off-roader, the Jimny 5-Door.   
• JSW Steel has been declared as a Preferred Bidder for Jaisinghpura North Block, in the Auction held on August 21, 2023.  
• Adani Enterprises has raised Rs 700 crore by allotment of 70,000 Secured, Unrated, Unlisted, Redeemable, NCDs of the face value of Rs. 1,00,000 each on private placement basis.