Extending their winning run for the third consecutive session, Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Wednesday led by gains in index heavyweight Tata Steel, Power Grid Corporation, along with Metal and Oil & Gas stocks. After making a cautious start, markets slipped into red as traders were concerned after Moody's sees some of its India's large corporates with foreign currency debt facing refinancing risk in calendar year 2024 (CY24). This would be owing to a combination of higher interest risk in the international financial market and a likely deterioration in their finances. However, the domestic indices staged recovery in early noon deals, driven by encouraging WPI inflation data. India's inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) maintained the declining trend in the month of May 2023 at (-) 3.48% as against (-) 0.92% recorded in April 2023. Decline in the rate of inflation is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, non-food articles and crude petroleum & natural gas, coal, mineral oils and electricity. Markets added gains in afternoon deals, amid foreign fund inflows. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) purchased shares worth net Rs 1,677.60 crore on June 13. Sentiments remained positive with Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that India's economic growth in the past few years is mainly driven by robust domestic demand and the country will continue to remain among the fastest-growing large economies in 2023. He also said the Indian economy had made rapid gains and has gradually integrated with the global economy over the years. But, markets trimmed some gains in final minutes of trade as some concern came after a private Weather forecasting agency predicted a bleak monsoon in India over the next four weeks, raising concerns about the impact on agriculture. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 85.35 points or 0.14% to 63,228.51 and the CNX Nifty was up by 39.75 points or 0.21% to 18,755.90.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to pause its interest rate increases following ten consecutive rate hikes but also forecast additional increases later this year. The Fed said it has decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5 to 5.25 percent, marking the first time the central bank has left rates unchanged since January 2022. Leaving rates unchanged will allow the Federal Open Market Committee the opportunity to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy, the Fed said. However, the central bank's latest projections suggest the Fed plans to resume raising rates later this year, forecasting a rate of 5.6 percent by the end of 2023. If the Fed decided to revert to its recent quarter-point increases, the forecast suggests the central bank will raise rates two more times this year. On the sectoral front, Airline stocks moved sharply higher on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 2.1 percent to a one-year closing high. Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index also reached its best closing level in over a year. On the other hand, banking stocks came under pressure following the Fed announcement, dragging the KBW Bank Index down by 1.8 percent.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday, giving up early gains, as data showed a notable increase in U.S. crude inventory in the week ended June 9th. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the U.S. surged by 7.919 million barrels last week, substantially larger than the expected increase of about 1.48 million barrels. The EIA data also showed the gasoline stockpile rose by 2.108 million barrels last week, more than three times the expected increase of about 0.637 million barrels. Benchmark crude oil futures for July delivery fell $1.15 or about 1.7 percent to settle at $68.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery dropped $1.09 or 1.5 percent to settle at $73.20 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended higher against the US dollar on Wednesday helped by robust macro fundamentals, FII inflows and a weak greenback against major rivals overseas. India's inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) maintained the declining trend in the month of May 2023 at (-) 3.48% as against (-) 0.92% recorded in April 2023. Decline in the rate of inflation is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, non-food articles and crude petroleum & natural gas, coal, mineral oils and electricity. On the global front, sterling ticked higher versus the dollar on Wednesday after data showed Britain's economy grew modestly in April. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.10 (Provisional), stronger by 15 paise from its previous close of 82.25 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Wednesday's data were net buyers in equity segment, while net sellers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 12854.97 crore against gross selling of Rs 10654.64 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 902.23 crore against gross selling of Rs 838.47 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 152.93 crore against gross selling of Rs 555.36 crore.

The US markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve did not alter the interest rates, but signalled in new projections that the key lending rate might need to rise by as much as half of a percentage point by the end of this year. Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday after China's central bank cut its key one-year interest rate to support real estate and domestic demand. Indian markets ended higher for a third straight trading session on Wednesday led by gains in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, along with FMCG and metal stocks. Today, markets are likely to get cautious start following a hawkish rate pause by the US Fed announced overnight. There will be concerned with a private report stating that the sowing of kharif crops such as paddy, pulses and oilseeds is likely to be delayed with the sluggish progress of monsoon following a late onset over the Kerala coast on June 8. Some cautiousness will come as domestic rating agency Crisil said the growth in aggregate GST collection for states is likely to moderate to 12-14 per cent in FY24 from 20 per cent in FY23. However, foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) purchased shares worth a net Rs 1,714.72 crore on June 14. Besides, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said India will soon overtake China as the largest driver of global oil demand even as it has an opportunity to become a world leader in green hydrogen production. There will be some reaction in IT stocks as a private report reiterated its negative stance on Indian information technology (IT) services and downgraded the sector to underweight, as it believes the overall demand environment for the sector still remains weak. Among stocks, it has placed Infosys, TCS, MphasiS in its negative catalyst watch. Jewellery industry stocks will be in focus as the Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said the overall gems and jewellery exports witnessed a decline of 10.70 per cent in May at Rs 22,693.41 crore ($2,755.90 million). There will be some reaction in auto and auto ancillary industry stocks with a private report that the Cabinet is likely to approve a Rs 25,000 crore scheme for semiconductor manufacturing in the country. Tourism industry stocks will be in limelight as India generated an income of $7,400 million through medical tourism over the last decade, and the figure is expected to rise to $43,500 million in the next 10 years.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Reliance Industries has continued to top the Indian corporates in the 2023 edition of The Global 2000 published by Forbes. 
• Kotak Mahindra Bank is planning to raise funds by way of issuance of Unsecured, Redeemable, Non-Convertible Debentures / Bonds, in one or more tranches / series, on a private placement basis, during the FY 2023-24 under the prevailing Members' approval. 
• The Security Appellate Tribunal has stayed Irdai's decision to transfer policy liabilities of Sahara India Life Insurance to SBI Life.
• Maruti Suzuki India is all set to introduce a new Multi-Purpose Vehicle, named INVICTO to the market and the launch is expected in July 2023.