Indian equity benchmarks wiped out all gains and ended flat with negative bias on Friday triggered by a late sell-off mainly in Banking, Auto and Finance shares. The benchmark indices opened fairly positive and stayed in green for most part of the day, as traders took some encouragement with the commerce ministry's statement that India's electronic goods exports surged by 49 percent to $11 billion during April-December 2021 as against $7.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year. In 2020-21, the exports stood at $11.11 billion. Sentiments were upbeat as Deputy Governor Michael Patra stated that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) remains committed to revive and sustain growth and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within target. Traders took note of report that the Income Tax department said it has issued refunds worth Rs 1.62 lakh crore to more than 1.79 crore taxpayers so far this fiscal. The frontline indices were firm in noon deals, taking support from Deputy Governor Michael Patra, addressing criticism of the RBI being behind the curve by continuing with the accommodative stance longer than other countries, said the approach has served us well. He also said India is placed ''much better'' to deal with future waves of the pandemic as compared to being affected the worst in the first after the nationwide lockdown. However, the key indices erased entire day's gains, and slipped into red for a brief moment as investors preferred to lighten positions ahead of the weekend and the upcoming Union Budget. Meanwhile, India has initiated an anti-dumping probe against 'Ursodeoxvcholic Acid', used in the medical field, imported from China and Korea following a complaint by a domestic player. Arch Pharmalabs has filed an application before the directorate for initiation of anti-dumping investigation and imposition of the duty. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 76.71 points or 0.13% to 57,200.23 and the CNX Nifty was down by 8.20 points or 0.05% to 17,101.95.

The US markets started the session under pressure but stocks showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session and ended sharply higher on Friday. The substantial rebound seen over the course of the trading day may partly have reflected bargain hunting, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 bouncing off multi-month closing lows. Tech giant Apple (AAPL) helped to lead the way back to the upside, spiking by 7 percent after reporting better than expected quarterly results. Credit card giant Visa (V) also moved sharply higher after reporting fiscal first quarter results that exceeded street estimates on the top and bottom lines. On the other hand, shares of Chevron (CVX) came under pressure after the energy giant reported fourth quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates. Fellow Dow component Caterpillar (CAT) also moved notably lower as supply chain concerns overshadow the construction equipment maker's better than expected quarterly results. Traders were also digesting a report from the Commerce Department showing core consumer price growth accelerated to a nearly 40-year high in December. The Commerce Department's reading on inflation, which is said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth accelerated to 4.9 percent in December, reaching the highest level since September 1983. At the same time, the report also showed personal spending fell by 0.6 percent in December after rising by 0.4 percent in November. The decrease in spending matched street estimates. Excluding price changes, real personal spending tumbled by 1.0 percent in December after slipping by 0.2 percent in the previous month.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Friday with prices climbing up amid concerns of tight supplies. Rising geopolitical concerns and limited output increases by major crude producers amid a surge in fuel demand contributed to the uptick in oil prices. On the geopolitical front, Russia said it was clear the United States was not willing to address its main security concerns in their standoff over Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies are reportedly hoping that Russia will study their responses and come back to the negotiating table. A report from Baker Hughes showed the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil was up by four to 495 this week. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes those drilling for natural gas, climbed by six to 610. Benchmark crude oil futures for March delivery rose $0.21 or about 0.2 percent to settle at $88.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery gained $0.50 or 0.56 percent to settle at $88.67 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally weak against the US dollar on Friday, on increased demand for the greenback from importers and banks. Geopolitical tensions, elevated crude oil prices and hawkish U.S. Fed stance weighed on the local unit. However, downfall remain capped as commerce ministry stating that India's electronic goods exports surged by 49 percent to $11 billion during April-December 2021 as against $7.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year. In 2020-21, the exports stood at $11.11 billion. On the global front, dollar consolidated gains on Friday and was on track for its biggest weekly rise in seven months as bets of higher interest rates fuelled the U.S. unit's gains versus rivals. Finally, the rupee ended 75.10 (Provisional), weaker by 1 paise from its previous close of 75.09 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net sellers in equity segment, while net buyers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 12698.39 crore against gross selling of Rs 18219.39 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 134.66 crore with gross sales of Rs 133.25 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 2.45 crore against gross selling of Rs 9.12 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Friday amid some bargain hunting. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday amid mixed reports on US jobs and manufacturing while surging oil prices added to worries over inflation. Indian markets reversed sharp gains in a choppy session on Friday, dragged by financial and auto stock, though IT, pharma and consumer shares lent prevented deeper losses. Today, the markets are likely to start session on positive note taking cues from global markets. Markets will be looking ahead to the FY23 Economic Survey that the government will table at noon today, ahead of the Union Budget on Tuesday. The Economic Survey will be tabled in Parliament, a day ahead of the Union Budget, to present the state of the economy and suggest policy prescriptions. This time, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha after the President's Address to both Houses of Parliament. Investors will be eyeing India's GDP growth and core infra output to be announced today after market hours. Traders will be taking encouragement with a survey by industry body Ficci showing a sharp improvement in manufacturing outlook in Q3 (October-December 2021-22) after some revival in the first half of 2021-22, but hiring outlook remained subdued. Some support will also come as RBI data showed bank credit grew 8.01 per cent to Rs 115 lakh crore and deposits rose 9.28 per cent to Rs 159.83 lakh crore in the fortnight ended January 14. In the fortnight ended January 15, 2021, bank credit stood at Rs 106.43 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 146.25 lakh crore, as per the RBI's Scheduled Banks' Statement of Position in India as on January 14, 2022, released on Friday. Meanwhile, the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $678 million to $634.287 billion in the week ended January 21, according to RBI data. In the previous week ended January 14, the reserves had increased by $2.229 billion to $634.965 billion. It touched a lifetime high of $642.453 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021. Metal stocks will be in focus as worldsteel stated that India's crude steel production rose by nearly 18 per cent to 118 million tonne (MT) in 2021, while world leader China recorded a 3 per cent decline to 1 032.8 MT. There will  be some buzz in the fertilizer industry stocks with a report that India is likely to set aside about 3 trillion rupees ($40 billion) on food and fertiliser subsidies in its budget next week for 2022/23, roughly the same amount the government budgeted for this fiscal year ending in March.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Bharti Airtel is planning to enter into long-term, multi-year agreement with Google to accelerate the growth of India's digital ecosystem. 
• L&T's wholly owned subsidiary -- LTHE has secured a contract from ONGC for the seventh development phase of their Pipeline Replacement Projects.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank has reported 30.79% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 3,402.74 crore for Q3FY22 as compared to Rs 2,601.67 crore for Q3FY21. 
• Infosys has collaborated with Safe Security to help accelerate the adoption of predictive risk quantification solutions.