Indian equity benchmarks took a breather after yesterday's sell-off and gained nearly half a percent on Thursday led by a sharp recovery in Utilities, Power and PSU stocks. Market made a subdued start as traders got anxious with a private report stating that the country's total debt, or the total outstanding bonds which are being traded in the market, rose to $2.47 trillion (Rs 205 lakh crore) in the September quarter. The total debt amount in the March quarter of the previous fiscal was $2.34 trillion (Rs 200 lakh crore). Some cautiousness also came in amid the new Covid-19 scare with the detection of new variant JN.1 in states like Goa, Kerala and Maharashtra. Besides, weak cues from global markets weighted on the domestic sentiment. However, markets recovered gradually in afternoon deals and finally settled around the day's high as traders took support with an analysis conducted by the PHD Research Bureau, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry showing that India has emerged as the most resilient economy among the top ten leading economies in the post pandemic years of 2022, 2023. Some solace also came as formal job creation under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) increased 18.2% year-on-year in October with the addition of 1.53 million net new subscribers. Traders also took a note of an article published in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bulletin stated that broad-based strengthening of economic activity in India will likely be sustained and retail inflation is expected to ease to 4.6 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024-25 from the latest print of 5.6 per cent. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 358.79 points or 0.51% to 70,865.10 and the CNX Nifty was up by 104.90 points or 0.50% to 21,255.05.

The US markets ended sharply higher on Thursday following the sharp pullback seen late in Wednesday's session. Positive sentiment was generated in reaction to revised Commerce Department data showing consumer prices increased by less than previously estimated in the third quarter. The Commerce Department said the surge in consumer prices in the third quarter was downwardly revised to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent. The increase in core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, was also downwardly revised to 2.0 percent from 2.3 percent. The revised inflation data was included in a report showing the spike in gross domestic product in the third quarter was downwardly revised to 4.9 percent from 5.2 percent. Street had expected the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised. Meanwhile, a separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a slight uptick by initial jobless claims in the U.S. in the week ended December 16th. The Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept up to 205,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 203,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 202,000 originally reported for the previous week. On the sectoral front, semiconductor stocks saw substantial strength on the day, resulting in a 2.8 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Micron Technology (MU) led sector higher, spiking by 8.6 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal first quarter results and providing upbeat fiscal second quarter guidance.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday after Angola's decision to exit OPEC raised concerns about the oil cartel's ability to support prices by curbing output. Angola's oil minister Diamantino Azevedo said the country's membership in OPEC was not serving its interests. At a meeting in November, Angola had protested a decision by OPEC to cut its production quota for 2024 to help prop up oil prices. Besides, data showing a buildup in U.S. petroleum supplies and record domestic production also weighed on oil prices. Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery fell $0.33 or 0.44 percent to settle at $73.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery was down by $0.31 or 0.38 percent to settle at $79.39 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Rupee ended lower on Thursday despite positive trend in domestic equities. Some concern came as all-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers (Base: 1986-87=100) for the month of November, 2023 increased by 12 points and 11 points respectively to stand at 1253 and 1262 points respectively. Besides, private report stated that country's total debt, or the total outstanding bonds which are being traded in the market, rose to $2.47 trillion (Rs 205 lakh crore) in the September quarter. The total debt amount in the March quarter of the previous fiscal was $2.34 trillion (Rs 200 lakh crore). On the global front, sterling was flat against the dollar on Thursday as traders digested the latest snapshot of the UK budget deficit, while Wednesday's cooler-than-expected November inflation print continued to sink in. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.27 (Provisional), weaker by 9 paise from its previous close of 83.18 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 15349.73 crore against gross selling of Rs 13342.40 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 890.38 crore with gross sales of Rs 734.45 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4138.47 crore against gross selling of Rs 105.37 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday winning back much of the previous day's losses, as economic data fuelled optimism that the Federal Reserve would ease monetary policy and revived investor risk appetite. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Friday with Japan reporting its November inflation numbers and its central releasing minutes of the October monetary policy meeting. Indian markets after a gap-down opening recovered sharply and ended with decent gains on Thursday amid buying in shares of Reliance Industries, financials, metals and power stocks. Today, markets are likely to open in green tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as well as frim cues from Asian peers as new economic data from the U.S. fueled hopes that the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates in the coming months. Also, fall in crude oil prices overnight likely to aid sentiments. Some support will come as Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Rajesh Agrawal said India's agriculture exports this fiscal are expected to reach the last year's level of $53 billion despite restrictions imposed on shipments of certain key commodities, including rice, wheat and sugar. In 2022-23, the country's agri exports stood at $53 billion. Traders may take note of a publication titled Re-examining Narratives: A Collection of Essays, penned by Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran and his team stating that India's exports are becoming less vulnerable to changes in world demand and exchange rates. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will conduct a seven-day variable rate repo auction for a notified amount of Rs 1.75 lakh crore on December 22. This announcement came when the liquidity in the banking system was in a huge deficit of around Rs 2.27 lakh crore. However, foreign fund outflows may restrict gains. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,636.19 crore on December 21. Textile industry stocks will be in limelight as the Cotton Association of India (CAI) estimated that cotton production may decline by around 8 per cent to 294.10 lakh bales in the 2023-24 season due to lower yields in most growing regions. There will be some reaction in apparel industry stocks with as The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) said a free trade agreement with Oman will help boost apparel exports as huge business opportunities are there in the Gulf nation for Indian exporters. The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $12.39 billion in 2022-23, up from $9.99 billion in the previous year.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Infosys has entered into a 5-year collaboration with LKQ Europe, one of the leading distributors of automotive aftermarket parts for cars, commercial vans, and industrial vehicles in Europe.
• Bharti Airtel has formed a strategic partnership to power up to 20 million smart meters with IntelliSmart Infrastructure, a leading smart metering and digital solutions provider.
• IndusInd Bank has sold its entire 2.86% stake in Nippon Life India Asset Management for Rs 795 crore through open market transactions.
• UltraTech Cement has entered into Share Subscription and Shareholders Agreement to acquire 26% equity shares of Clean Max Terra.