Sell off which emerged in last leg of trade mainly dragged the Indian equity benchmarks into red terrain on Tuesday. Markets started the day on optimistic note as traders took support with report that the government announced a liberalised and accelerated Covid-19 vaccination programme beginning May 1, where all above 18 years of age will be eligible to be vaccinated. Also, vaccine manufacturers have been empowered to release up to 50% of supplies directly to state governments and in the open market at pre-declared prices, a move that would boost availability of the prophylactics to the people. Some support also came with report that India reported a slight decline of 256,947 in the number of fresh coronavirus (Covid-19) cases on Tuesday, Worldometer showed.  Traders took note of report that the Reserve Bank of India has formed a six-member panel headed by Sudarshan Sen, former Executive Director, to carry out comprehensive review of the working of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) in the financial sector ecosystem. The panel will recommend suitable measures for enabling such entities to meet the growing requirements of the financial sector. The Committee will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting. Sentiments turned pessimistic and markets started paring initial gains on report that a month's national lockdown can hurt GDP growth by 2 percentage points, while expecting governments to continue with localised restrictions to arrest the Covid spread. Selloff intensified in last leg of trade which dragged markets lower as traders turned cautious after the retailers' body Retailers Association of India (RAI) has said closure of economic activity at this juncture will lead to permanent closure of businesses and millions of job losses, amid varied localized restrictions being imposed across states in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 243.62 points or 0.51% to 47705.80, while the CNX Nifty was down by 63.05 points or 0.44% to 14296.40.   

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday to recover from two straight days of losses as investors piled into shares most sensitive to the economic recovery. Stocks linked to the economy reopening saw significant strength on the day, with shares of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) spiking by 10.3 percent. The jump by Norwegian comes after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the cruise line operators stock to Buy from Neutral. Rivals Carnival and Royal Caribbean were also posting strong gains. Intuitive Surgical, Edwards Lifesciences, and Tenet Healthcare also moved notably higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results. Besides, reflecting the strength among reopening plays, airline stocks showed a strong move back to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 3 percent. The index rebounded after tumbling to a two-month closing low on Tuesday. Substantial strength also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent jump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Chemical stocks also turned in a strong performance, with the S&P Chemical Sector Index surging up by 2.3 percent to a record closing high.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday for a second day to their lowest in a week on a surprise build in US crude inventories and concerns surging COVID-19 cases in India will drive down fuel demand in the world's third-biggest oil importer. According to data from India's health ministry on Wednesday, the country saw 295,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed US crude inventories rose by 594,000 barrels in the week to April 16 to 493 million barrels. Street had expected inventories to drop by about 3 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a build in crude oil inventories of 436,000 barrels for the week ending April 16, while street had predicted a draw of 2.860 million barrels for the week. Crude oil futures for June dropped $1.32 or 2.1 percent to settle at $ 61.35 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude fell $1.30 or 2 percent to settle at $65.27 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally weaker against dollar on Tuesday, on emergence of demand for the greenback from importers. Traders were concerned with private report stating that the a month's national lockdown can hurt GDP growth by 2 percentage points, while expecting governments to continue with localised restrictions to arrest the Covid spread. However, downfall remains limited as government is likely to waive 10 per cent customs duty levied on imported vaccines in a bid to keep low the cost of overseas vaccines that are being eyed to supplement domestically made shots ahead of opening COVID-19 vaccination to all citizens over 18 years of age. On the global front, dollar dropped to its lowest in nearly seven weeks during the Asian session, while the euro rallied, as investors grew more optimistic about the pace of vaccine rollout in Europe and US. Finally, the rupee ended 74.88, weaker by 1 paise from its previous close of 74.87 on Monday. Indian forex and money markets remained closed on Wednesday on account of Ram Navami.

The FIIs as per Tuesday's data were net seller in equity segment, while net buyer in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6359.09 crore against gross selling of Rs 8013.23 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 3399.00 crore against gross selling of Rs 2550.26 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 1.87 crore against gross selling of Rs 20.48 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday after a two-day decline in a broad rally as a tilt toward stocks poised to benefit from a recovering economy offset Netflix Inc's sell-off after its disappointing results a day earlier. Asian markets are trading in green on Thursday following an overnight bounce on Wall Street. Indian markets pared morning gains and ended lower on Tuesday as losses in IT, FMCG and financials mainly dragged the indices during the day. India's equity, currency, debt and commodity markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Ram Navami. Today, the start of session is likely to be positive tracking strong global cues and the recent ramp-up in vaccine drive announced by the country. Some support will come as Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the country's exports are reviving and the shipments are expected to be in the solid positive territory in this financial year. He said that exports recorded a significant contraction in April last year but gradually things started improving and the shipments have entered the positive territory. However, worries over the second wave of COVID-19 in the country and tightening of restrictions in various states may cap the gains. India reported 315,802 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 15,924,806, Worldometer showed. This is the first time any country has recorded over 300,000 cases in just 24 hours. Traders may be concerned as Care Ratings revised down its forecast for GDP growth to 10.2 per cent in 2021-22 from earlier projection of 10.7-10.9 per cent, with economic activities getting affected across the country due to curbs imposed by states amid surge in COVID-19 cases. Also, domestic rating agency Icra cut its 2021-22 growth estimate by 0.5 per cent on the upper end, as a newer spate of lockdowns and restrictions get imposed in pockets to arrest the rising COVID-19 cases. The agency now expects the economy to grow 10-10.5 per cent in 2021-22, against the 10-11 per cent estimated earlier. Meanwhile, investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market declined to Rs 89,100 crore at March-end, after hitting 33 months high level in the preceding month. Aviation stocks will be in focus as Indian aviation regulator DGCA said around 78.22 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in March, which is slightly lower than 78.27 lakh who travelled in February. There will be some reaction in power stocks with a private report stating that the outstanding overdues of power distribution utilities fell by over Rs 15,118 crore to Rs 74,510 crore in March this year, as compared to the preceding month, mainly due to the release of the second tranche of liquidity infusion package. There will be some important result announcements to keep the markets in action.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• SBI's subsidiary company -- SBI General Insurance has launched Healthline, a 24x7 helpline service for its health insurance customers. 
• ICICI Bank is planning to raise fund by way of issuance of debt securities in single/multiple tranches in any currency through public/private placement. 
• Bajaj Finance has raised Rs 116 crore through Secured redeemable NCDs and allotted 1160 NCDs having face value of Rs 10 lakh each on private placement basis. 
• Bajaj Auto has launched its new Pulsar NS 125 motorcycle priced at Rs 93,690 (ex-showroom Delhi).