Indian equity benchmarks ended at fresh record closing highs and gained nearly half a percent on Friday propelled by a rally in global markets. Besides, buying in telecom, auto and tech stocks also helped markets to settle with gains. Markets opened with an uptick and traded range bound thereafter as exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 294.69 crore. Traders took a note of domestic rating agency Icra's report stating that credit growth in the banking system will moderate to 12.1-13.2 per cent in the current fiscal (FY24) from 15.4 per cent in the year-ago period. But, it also said asset quality improvement will continue, while the Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio is expected to come down to 2.8-3 per cent by March 2024, as against 3.7 per cent at the end of the June quarter. Sentiments remained up-beat in second half of trading session, as traders were getting encouragement after Financial services secretary Ajay Seth has said the total revenue from corporate and excise tax collections is expected to be in line with budget estimates for the current fiscal year (FY24). Besides, the private report stated that India has become the 13th country authorised to certify 'measuring and weighing instruments' based on globally accepted standards of the Paris-based IOLM, a development that will boost domestic exports of such products. An IOLM-approved certificate is mandatory to sell weighing or measuring instruments in the international market at present. Meanwhile, the commerce and industry ministry has said that as many as 106 big-ticket infrastructure projects of different ministries worth Rs 11 lakh crore have been recommended for approval under the PM GatiShakti initiative so far this fiscal (FY24). Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 319.63 points or 0.47% to 67,838.63 and the CNX Nifty up by 89.25 points or 0.44% to 20,192.35.

The US markets ended significantly lower on Friday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the pullback. Traders booked profit after previous session's solid gains ahead of the next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged next week, the latest batch of U.S. economic data reignited concerns about the possibility of future rate hikes. The Labor Department released a report this morning showing a bigger than expected increase in U.S. import prices in the month of August as well as a much bigger than expected surge in U.S. export prices. The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.5 percent in August after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent uptick in July. Street had expected import prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the report said export prices spiked by 1.3 percent in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in July. Street had expected export prices to increase by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.7 percent advance originally reported for the previous month. A separate report released by the New York Fed showed a substantial turnaround in New York manufacturing activity in the month of September. The Federal Reserve also released a report showing U.S. industrial production increased by much more than expected in the month of August. The report said industrial production climbed by 0.4 percent in August following a downwardly revised 0.7 percent advance in July. Street had expected industrial production to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 1.0 percent jump originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the University of Michigan showed a notable decrease in near-term and long-term inflation expectations.

Magnifying their previous session's gains, crude oil futures ended higher on Friday, rising on optimism over the outlook for Chinese demand after reports showed Chinese refiners broke refining rate records in August. A report from China's aviation regulator showed air passenger numbers in August rose to 63.96 million, almost double the level seen in August 20222. Data showing a notable increase in Chinese retail sales and industrial production helped as well. A report from Baker Hughes showed the oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose nine to 641 in the week to September 15, its highest since mid-August. Baker Hughes said the total count was still down 122, or 16%, below this time last year. Benchmark crude oil futures for October delivery surged $0.61 or 0.7 percent to settle at $90.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery rose $0.40 or 0.43 percent to settle at $94.10 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Rupee settled lower against dollar on Friday dragged down by rising crude oil prices and a strong greenback against major rivals overseas. Traders overlooked reports that India's merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $24.16 billion in August as compared to $24.86 billion in the same month last year, down 2.8 percent. The merchandise exports stood at $34.48 billion, while imports were $58.64 billion in August, government data showed. In the previous month, merchandise exports were $32.25 billion, while imports stood at $52.92 billion. On the global front, the pound rose against the dollar on Friday as the greenback slipped and as traders looked ahead to the Bank of England's interest rate decision next week. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.15 (Provisional), weaker by 12 paise from its previous close of 83.03 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 10116.73 crore against gross selling of Rs 9427.95 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1096.95 crore with gross sales of Rs 627.96 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9.01 crore against gross selling of Rs 10.60 crore.

The US markets ended sharply lower on Friday as plunging chip stocks and mixed economic data dampened investors' risk appetite, providing a downbeat ending to a tumultuous week. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Monday as investors look ahead to a week of central bank decisions. Indian markets extended their record breaking run into third straight day on Friday on the back of upbeat global sentiment. Today, markets are likely to get cautious start of holiday shorten week. Equity markets will be shut for trading on Tuesday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi holiday. Some cautiousness will come ahead of the upcoming US FOMC outcome. The US Federal Reserve meeting is scheduled on September 19-20, and the interest rate decision will be announced on Wednesday. Traders will be concerned as India's merchandise trade deficit widened to a 10-month high of $24.16 billion in August. India's exports declined by 6.86 per cent to $34.48 billion in August this year as against $37.02 billion in the same month last year. Imports too declined by 5.23 per cent to $58.64 billion as against $61.88 billion recorded in August 2022. Also, latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed India's foreign exchange reserve declined by $5 billion to $594 billion in the previous week on the back of a fall in foreign currency assets. However, foreign in fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 164.42 crore on September 15. Some support may come as a private report stated that advance tax collections jumped 20 percent over the last year to Rs 3.54 lakh crore in the first half of this fiscal. Besides, the Financial Inclusion (FI) Index of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stood at 60.1 per cent for the financial year ending in March 2023, as compared to 56.4 per cent in March 2022, due to improvements in Usage and Quality dimensions. The value stood at 53.9 per cent in March 2021. Pharma stocks will be in focus ratings agency ICRA said in a report India's pharmaceutical industry is expected to have a revenue growth of 8-10 percent in Financial Year 2024 (FY24). Growth is likely to be driven by price increases, new products, and health care services expanding in semi-urban and rural areas, said the report based on data from ICRA's sample set representing 60 percent of the industry. There will be some reaction in oil & gas, aviation industry stocks as the Union government increased the windfall tax on domestic production of crude oil to Rs 10,000 per tonne from Rs 6,700 per tonne. The increase came into effect from September 16. The government has cut the special additional excise duty (SAED) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to 3.50 rupees per litre from 4 rupees per litre. Meanwhile, Jupiter Life Line Hospitals likely to list with premium today. There will be some buzz in the primary market with 10 companies ready to throng the Street with their initial public issues this week.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Tata Motors has launched the all-new Nexon, India's bestselling SUV. 
• Infosys has entered into a MoU with a global company to provide enhanced digital experiences, along with modernization and business operations services, leveraging Infosys platforms & AI solutions. 
• NTPC has signed a supplementary Joint Venture agreement with Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam on September 13, 2023. 
• HCL Technologies has launched three digital solutions to enhance customer experiences in the healthcare, automotive and financial services industries.