Indian equity benchmarks extended their losing streak for the third consecutive day on Thursday defying largely positive global market trends. Benchmarks began the trade on a positive note, as traders found some solace with former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya's statement that the Indian economy is likely to grow at over 7 per cent in the current fiscal year, and observed that the growth rate should sustain next year too provided the forthcoming Budget does not have any negative surprises. Traders took note of report that India, which has already been in talks with Russia for a rupee-rouble payment system, is now looking at expanding the rupee trade with other nations as well, including several countries in Africa, UAE and Saudi Arabia among others. However, key gauges failed to carry forward the gains and slipped into red in morning deals. Traders got cautious as pressing for the prohibition of instruments like Bitcoin, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das warned that the next financial crisis can be triggered by private cryptocurrencies, if such speculative instruments are allowed to grow. Losses got extended in early afternoon session, owing to the hawkish comments from the RBI's MPC minutes, which suggested that a premature pause in rate tightening would be a costly policy error at this juncture. Some anxiety also came with Indian health minister Mansukh Mandaviya's statement that COVID is not over yet. He said 'I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance'. Besides, as per provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,119.11 crore on December 21. But, key gauges managed to trim some losses towards the end, taking support from reports that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exuded confidence that tax revenue generation in the current fiscal year (FY23) would be sufficient to fund the additional spending of Rs 3.26 trillion, for which her ministry has sought Parliamentary approval. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 241.02 points or 0.39% to 60,826.22 and the CNX Nifty was down by 71.75 points or 0.39% to 18,127.35.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday, with Nasdaq settling over two percent cut, as some traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the global economy. Stocks saw further downside following the release of a report from the Conference Board showing a continued slump by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of November. The report said the leading economic index tumbled by 1.0 percent in November after sliding by a revised 0.9 percent in October. Street had expected the leading economic index to decrease by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.8 percent drop originally reported for the previous month. Traders were also looking ahead to report on personal income and spending, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Fed. With Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying the central bank will require substantially more evidence inflation is on a sustained downward trend before halting its interest rate hikes, traders are likely to keep a close eye on the inflation reading. On the sectoral front, after turning in some of the market's best performances on Wednesday, semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged by 4.2 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday as the dollar advanced on rate hike bets. Fears about the Fed continuing with its interest rate hikes, and a surge in Covid-19 cases in China raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand, outweighing recent data showing a drop in crude inventories. However, prices rose earlier in the session on inventory data, and news that a powerful winter storm will bring dangerous cold, heavy snow and flash freezing across the central and eastern U.S. through the rest of the week. Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery fell $0.82 or 1.02 percent at $77.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February dropped $0.79 or 0.96 percent to settle at $81.41 (Provisional) a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Thursday, following a weak greenback in overseas markets. Traders took some support with former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya's statement that the Indian economy is likely to grow at over 7 per cent in the current fiscal year, and observed that the growth rate should sustain next year too provided the forthcoming Budget does not have any negative surprises. However, losses in domestic stocks and firm crude oil prices restricted the rupee's gain. On the global front, the dollar softened against major currencies and European stocks ticked higher on Thursday as easing U.S. inflation expectations reinforced investor confidence of a let up in price pressures. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.79 (Provisional), stronger by 5 paise from its previous close of 82.84 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net sellers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5166.43 crore against gross selling of Rs 5665.88 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 130.96 crore against gross selling of Rs 482.26 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 10.84 crore against gross selling of Rs 17.07 crore.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as investors worried that data showing a resilient economy would lead the US Federal Reserve to keep hiking interest rates for longer than feared. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday taking the lead from losses on Wall Street while investors also looked ahead to some economic data in the region. Indian markets surrendered early gains and finished in red for the third session on Thursday as hawkish comments from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Covid-19 surge in China kept buying sentiment in check despite largely positive global market trends. Today, domestic equity indices are likely to get pessimistic start on weak global cues. Besides, fears of economic growth slowdown coupled with the fresh Covid-19 scare continue to weigh down on the market sentiment. Traders may take note of a private report that amid a slowdown in demand for Indian goods in developed countries, India can focus on 18 products, such as insecticides, construction material, chemicals, and iron and steel, to boost its exports to developing countries where the country meets only 2.5 per cent of the demand at present. However, some support may come amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought shares worth Rs 928.63 crore on December 22, as per provisional data available on the NSE. There will be some reaction in telecom stocks with report that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has formed four task forces to recommend to the government measures that will boost the domestic telecom manufacturing ecosystem and remove the bottlenecks. Defence industry stocks will be in focus as seeking to deepen US-India military ties, the defence chiefs of the two countries have shared their assessments of the regional and global security environment and discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation and interoperability. There will be some buzz in insurance industry stocks as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in its annual report said over 2.25 lakh death claims due to the Covid-19 pandemic were settled by insurance companies up to March 2022. Besides, shares of the premium automobile retailer Landmark Cars will debut on the bourses today. The issue price for the IPO has been fixed at Rs 506 per share. Abans Holdings, the financial services subsidiary of Abans Group will also list shares on the BSE and NSE today. The final offer price has been fixed at Rs 270 per share. Meanwhile, in the primary market, Radiant Cash Management Services IPO will open for subscription today. The company is offering over 2.79 crore equity shares in the issue at a price band of Rs 94-99 per share.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Reliance Industries' subsidiary -- Reliance Retail Ventures has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% equity stake in METRO Cash & Carry India. 
• Indian Oil Corporation has selected Reliance Jio Infocomm for connect a fifth of its petrol pump network. 
• Maruti Suzuki India has signed a five-year agreement with Kamarajar Port for export of its passenger vehicles to international markets.
• Bharti Airtel and Apollo Hospitals have carried out India's first 5G driven, Artificial Intelligence guided Colonoscopy trials.