After falling for three straight sessions, Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with positive bias on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of key Q4 earnings results of some major companies. After making a cautious start, key gauges traded higher as traders took some support with a private report stating that retail inflation in April will soften with base effect and the inflation print may read a full percentage point lower, after a favourable base effect sharply pulled down Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation to 5.66 percent in March. Some support also came with a report stating that discussing international developments regarding crypto assets, India and the UK have emphasised the importance of robust global approaches to deal with risks attached to this. At the India-UK 2nd Financial Markets Dialogue participants from both countries provided updates on recent developments in their respective banking sectors, discussing banking trends and emerging vulnerabilities and risks in the sector. However, markets cut initial gains to trade volatile during the trading session. Investors remained cautious amid foreign fund outflows and prevailing risk-off sentiments. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 13.17 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Some concerns also came with a 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. But, markets managed to settle with marginal gains helped by fag-end buying in Utilities, Telecom and Power stocks. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 64.55 points or 0.11% to 59,632.35 and the CNX Nifty was up by 5.70 points or 0.03% to 17,624.45.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday. The weakness on markets partly reflected a negative reaction to the latest earnings news from several big-name companies. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) plunged by 9.8 percent after the electric vehicle maker reported a steep drop in first quarter earnings amid disappointing profit margins. Telecom giant AT&T (T) also posted a steep loss after reporting first quarter earnings that exceeded street estimates but weaker than expected revenues. Further, weakness also prevailed in the markets as the Philadelphia Federal reserve showed regional manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in the month of April. The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current activity slumped to a negative 31.3 in April from a negative 23.2 in March, with a negative reading indicating a contraction. Street had expected the index rise to a negative 19.2. With the unexpected decrease, the Philly Fed Index dropped to its lowest level since hitting a negative 43.2 in May 2020. The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended April 15th. The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 245,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 240,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 240,000 from the 239,000 originally reported for the previous week. On the sectoral front, tobacco stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index tumbling by 2.5 percent after ending Wednesday's session at its best closing level in well over a month.

Crude oil futures ended deeply in red on Thursday on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand. Hawkish comments from Fed officials and the European Central Bank have raised concerns that the central banks are not done with interest rate hikes yet, and more tightening is very likely in coming months to fight inflation. Traders were concerned that further U.S. interest rate hikes could hurt growth and push the economy into a recession and result in a fall in demand. Besides, an unexpected jump in gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week, and reports saying oil loading from Russia's Western ports in April is likely to rise to a near 4-year high also weighed on oil prices. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery fell $1.87 or 2.4 percent to settle at $77.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery dropped $2.02 or 2.43 percent to settle at $81.1 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange. 

Snapping a three-day losing streak, Indian rupee ended stronger against dollar on Thursday on fresh selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Traders took some support with a private report stating that retail inflation in April will soften with base effect and the inflation print may read a full percentage point lower, after a favourable base effect sharply pulled down Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation to 5.66 percent in March.  However, gains remained capped as some concerns came with a 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. On the global front, the U.S. dollar held gains on Thursday after strong U.S. banking results firmed up expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep monetary policy tight for a while longer. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.15 (Provisional), stronger by 10 paise from its previous close of 82.25 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity segment, while net sellers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7968.49 crore against gross selling of Rs 7798.95 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 889.53 crore against gross selling of Rs 903.60 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 65.41 crore against gross selling of Rs 2.97 crore.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday after disappointing quarterly reports from companies including Tesla and AT&T, while investors sought clarity on the path of interest rates. Asian markets are trading in red on Friday following a lower close on Wall Street, while Japan's core inflation for March came in at 3.1 per cent, unchanged from February. Indian markets managed to eke out minor gains on Thursday with support from auto, capital goods and power stocks. Today, domestic indices are likely to open with minor gains on the last trading day of week. Investors will react to HCL Technologies' Q4 results, which came largely in-line with Street expectations. Weakness in global peers likely to weight on sentiments. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent domestic indices. National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,169.32 crore on April 20. Traders will be concerned as a report by Acuite Ratings stated that India's economic activity is expected to decline and witness a lower growth print in FY24 on the back of a buoyancy in the services sector, moderation in inflation and the consistency in public sector capital expenditure. Some cautiousness will come as retail inflation for farm labour and rural workers rose marginally to 7.01 percent and 6.94 percent, respectively, in March compared to February this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. Some concern may come as minutes of this month's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting showed India's current rate tightening cycle may not be over as more hikes could be warranted to align inflation towards the central bank's medium term target of 4%. Meanwhile, the Centre has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty of $2.05 per square metre on luxury vinyl tiles imports from China and $1.44 per square metre on imports from Taiwan based on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry. The anti-dumping duty would be valid for five years. Baking stocks will be in focus as Reserve Bank of India data showed that banking system's credit rose by 15.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) basis in the fortnight ended April 7 to Rs 138.45 trillion, while advances grew by Rs 1.7 trillion in the reporting fortnight. Investors await more of corporate earnings from India Inc for domestic cues, with index heavy weight - Reliance Industries (RIL) all set to report its numbers post-market hours today.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• ITC has executed the transaction documents to acquire 100% of the share capital of Sproutlife Foods, in one or more tranches, over a time period of three to four years. 
• HDFC's subsidiary -- HCAL has entered into Share Subscription Agreement for acquisition of CCPS of Loyalie which post allotment, would entitle HCAL to additional around 1.8% to 2.4% stake in Loyalie on a fully diluted basis. 
• Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary -- Jaguar Land Rover is planning to invest 15 billion pounds (about Rs 153 crore) over the next five years to enhance its industrial footprint, introduce new models and to bolster technology in its range.
• UltraTech Cement has increased the capacity of its grinding unit at Patliputra, Bihar to 4.7 mtpa with the successful commissioning of its 2.2 mtpa brownfield expansion.