Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday, marking their third straight day of losses due to selling in IT, TECK and Power shares. Markets made a cautious start as a result of deteriorating risk sentiment globally and growing investor anxiety about a probable recession. Traders remained cautious with a private report that deal activities declined 35 per cent to $9.7 billion across 332 transactions in the first quarter of 2023 due to an overall decline in deal activities as the fear of a global recession has gained more traction amid the continuing war on Ukraine. Of the total deals, M&As constituted more than half, still lower by 21 per cent at $4.4 billion involving 76 deals, down 56 per cent during the March quarter. Investors also remained anxious amid disappointing earnings from IT majors TCS and Infosys. However, markets managed to trim most of their losses in early afternoon deals, as traders found some solace with Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) stating that the healthy growth trend will continue and services exports are expected to reach up to $400 billion this fiscal, buoyed by a significant jump in exports during 2022-23. Some support also came with a private report stating that India last year got 20 per cent of the total private equity and venture capital (PE-VC) investments in the Asia Pacific, making the country a bright spot amid decelerating capital flow in the region. But, markets failed to hold recovery and fell sharply in late afternoon deals, as foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiments. National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 810.60 crore on April 18. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 159.21 points or 0.27% to 59,567.80 and the CNX Nifty was down by 41.40 points or 0.23% to 17,618.75.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday. Markets showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session. The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders reacted the latest earnings news, with shares of Netflix (NFLX) moving sharply lower after the streaming giant reported weaker than expected first quarter revenues. Some negative sentiment was generated in reaction to a jump in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest levels in nearly a month. The increase in treasury yields reflected concerns about global inflation after a report showed U.K. consumer prices increased more than expected in March. On the sectoral front, computer hardware stocks moved sharply lower on the day. The NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index plunged by 3.1 percent after ending Tuesday's trading at a two-month closing high. On the economic front, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book report, noting U.S. economic activity was little changed in recent weeks. The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the twelve Fed districts, said nine districts reported either no change or only a slight change in activity while three indicated modest growth. Expectations for future growth were mostly unchanged as well, although two districts saw outlooks deteriorate, the Fed said. The report also said job growth moderated somewhat this period as several districts reported a slower pace of growth than in recent Beige Book reports. The Fed added a small number of firms reported mass layoffs, and those were centered at a subset of the largest companies.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday on concerns any further policy tightening by the Fed could hurt growth and significantly curb energy demand. Crude oil prices fell despite data showing a sharp fall in crude inventories in the U.S. in the week ended April 15. Data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories fell 4.6 million barrels last week, more than four times the expected drop, to 466 million barrels. The data said crude in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped by 1.6 million barrels last week to about 368 million barrels, the lowest level since October 1983. Gasoline stockpiles increased by 1.3 million barrels last week, as against an expected drop of about 1.3 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 400,000 barrels in the week, substantially less than an expected decline of about 900,000 barrels. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery fell $1.70 or 2.1 percent to settle at $79.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery dropped $1.65 or almost 2 percent to settle at $83.12 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee weakened on Wednesday, marking the third straight session of losses, weighed down by firm crude oil prices and a negative trend in domestic equities. Foreign fund outflows and strengthening of the American currency in the overseas market dented investor sentiments. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 810.60 crore, according to exchange data. Traders overlooked Services Export Promotion Council's (SEPC) statement that the healthy growth trend will continue and services exports are expected to reach up to $400 billion this fiscal, buoyed by a significant jump in exports during 2022-23. On the global front, dollar pulled further above last week's one-year lows, as investor focus honed in on what the Federal Reserve may have to do to tame inflation, rather than on the recent problems in the U.S. banking sector. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.22 (Provisional), weaker by 17 paise from its previous close of 82.05 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Wednesday's data were net sellers in equity segment, while net buyers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7441.13 crore against gross selling of Rs 7993.16 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 801.58 crore against gross selling of Rs 285.70 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.82 crore against gross selling of Rs 4.13 crore.

The US markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday following mixed corporate earnings from top companies including Netflix, Travelers and Morgan Stanley. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday following mix close on Wall street overnight. Indian markets fell for a third consecutive day on Wednesday as the rout in technology stocks continued. Today, markets are likely to get flat-to-positive start amid mixed global cues. Local markets are now in a consolidation phase after a record nine-day winning run to April 13. Markets may remain volatile in today's session due to the weekly F&O expiry of derivative contracts later in the day. There will be some cautiousness with private report that India's economy is likely to post a resilient 6% growth in FY24, easing slightly from 7% in FY23 because of softer global growth and higher interest rates. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments in the domestic markets. National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 13.17 crore on April 19. IT stocks would continue to remain in focus ahead of HCL Tech's Q4FY23 numbers due later in the day. There will be some buzz in the road sector stocks as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) put plans in place to maintain the pace of highway development and construct 12,500 km of highways in the current financial year. Sugar industry stocks will be in focus with private report that India's sugar production next season will be enough to meet the local demand and the country will also be able to export some quantities of the sweetener, despite concerns about the emergence of the El Nino weather pattern. There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released data that showed the passengers carried by domestic airlines in India reported a 51.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in January-March 2023 period. The domestic airlines carried a total of 37.5 million passengers between January-March 2023 as compared to 24.7 million passengers during the corresponding period in the last year. Besides, stock-specific action amid March quarter results will continue to dominate the Street.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Tata Motors has opened bookings of the Altroz iCNG, India's first twin cylinder CNG technology.
• ICICI Bank has enabled FASTag based payment for parking at Mangaluru International Airport.
• State Bank of India has received an approval for the proposal to raise fund in single or multiple tranches up to $2 billion (about Rs 16,000 crore) through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US Dollar or any other convertible currency during FY 2023-24. 
• NTPC has signed an agreement with Chempolis India to explore the feasibility of setting up a bamboo-based bio-refinery at Bongaigaon in Assam.