Indian equity benchmarks extended gains to the third straight session on Wednesday led by gains in financial, banking and healthcare stocks and positive sentiments from global markets. Markets made gap-up opening and stayed in green for whole day, as traders took encouragement as Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran expressed hope that India would become a $5 trillion economy by FY26 or the next year on the back of 8-9 per cent sustained growth. He added gross domestic product (GDP) in dollar terms has already crossed $3 trillion. Some support also came in as provisional data of the commerce ministry showed that the country's exports rose by 23.69 per cent to $34.06 billion in January on healthy performance by engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery segments even as trade deficit widened to $17.94 billion during the month. Traders took note of report that Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said his ministry is in talks with the finance ministry to allow firms in the special economic zones (SEZs) to sell goods in the domestic market by paying just an equalisation levy.  The key indices were seen extending gains in noon trade as continued buying across all sectors. Sentiments remained up-beat with IT industry body Nasscom stating that the Union Budget 2022 sets the tone for India's 'techade' and establishing the country as a global hub in terms of technology innovation. Traders remained positive, as the USA India Chamber of Commerce has said that in the midst of third wave of COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has come up with an impactful budget which is balanced, fiscally prudent and growth-oriented. Further, support also came in as Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, welcoming the Budget's focus on the agriculture sector, has said that it is the budget for the villages, poor people, farmers, women and youth. The minister said the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been increased continuously in both the tenures of the Government, this time also it has been increased to Rs.1.32 lakh crore from Rs.1.23 lakh crore last year. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 695.76 points or 1.18% to 59,558.33 and the CNX Nifty was up by 203.15 points or 1.16% to 17,780.00.

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the three previous sessions. The strength on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings from some big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL). Shares of Alphabet spiked by 7.5 percent after the tech giant reported fourth quarter result that exceeded street estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which has led to speculation the stock could be headed for inclusion in the Dow. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also showed a strong move to the upside after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance. Traders were also reacting to a report from payroll processor ADP unexpectedly showing a sharp pullback in US private sector employment in the month of January. ADP said private sector employment plunged by 301,000 jobs in January after jumping by a downwardly revised 776,000 jobs in December. The steep drop surprised street, who had expected private sector employment to increase by 207,000 jobs compared to the spike of 807,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The labor market recovery took a step back at the start of 2022 due to the effect of the Omicron variant and its significant, though likely temporary, impact to job growth, said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.

Crude oil futures ended marginally higher on Wednesday supported by data showing a drop in crude stockpiles in the US in the week ended January 28. Data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories dropped by 1.046 million barrels last week versus expectations for an increase of 1.525 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that US oil inventories fell 1.65 million barrels last week to meet increased demand. Street had forecast a 1.5 million barrels increase. However, upside remained capped as OPEC and its allies approved another 400,000 barrels per day in production that will begin in March. Benchmark crude oil futures for March delivery added $0.06 or nearly 0.1 percent to settle at $88.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery rose $0.31 or 0.35 percent to settle at $89.47 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally weak against the US dollar on Wednesday, on increased demand for the greenback from importers and banks. Investors remain concerned as Rating agency Moody's stated that the Union Budget lacks any tangible measures to increase revenue generation even though the capital expenditure plans have gone up significantly and the fiscal deficit estimate suggests that the government is relying too much on strong growth to help drive fiscal consolidation. However, downfall remain capped as provisional data of the commerce ministry showed that the country's exports rose by 23.69 per cent to $34.06 billion in January on healthy performance by engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery segments even as trade deficit widened to $17.94 billion during the month. On the global front, euro rose for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, after hitting a 20-month low last week, as markets awaited euro zone inflation data for clues on the European Central Bank's next move. Finally, the rupee ended 74.83 (Provisional), weaker by 1 paise from its previous close of 74.82 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Wednesday's data were net sellers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6724.61 crore against gross selling of Rs 6820.34 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 49.94 crore against gross selling of Rs 721.62 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 12.72 crore against gross selling of Rs 169.83 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday extending gains for a fourth straight day, boosted by upbeat earnings from Alphabet and Advanced Micro Devices. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday amid persisting concerns about global growth and geopolitical tensions. Indian markets rose 1.2 percent each to scale two-week closing highs on Wednesday led by broad-based gains. Financial, IT and oil & gas stocks were the biggest contributors to the rise in headline indices. Today, markets are likely to make cautious start amid mixed Asian cues. Rising crude oil prices and geopolitical tensions may weigh on the market sentiment. There will be come cautiousness as domestic rating agency CRISIL estimated FY23 real GDP growth at 7.8 per cent as compared with the 8.5 per cent projected in the Economic Survey. However, traders may be taking encouragement as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India is on track to achieve the $400-billion export target in the current fiscal and is negotiating trade agreements with countries like the UAE, the EU and Canada. Sentiments may get a boost as asserting that the Union Budget lays the foundation for the country's long-term growth in the next 25 years, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the government is taking all possible measures to ignite private investments, which will be the best bet to pull the economy out of the shadows of the coronavirus pandemic. Some support may come as data by independent think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showing that India's unemployment rate witnessed a sharp decline to 6.57 per cent in January, the lowest since March 2021, as the country gradually recovers with easing of restrictions following a decline in Omicron cases. Traders may take note of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth's statement that the Budget proposals seek to stimulate the economy by stepping up public investments, which will create demand for industrial inputs like cement, steel and capital goods, and generate jobs. Meanwhile, Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows during April-November 2021 stood at $54.10 billion. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said the government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for FDI, wherein most of the sectors are open under the automatic route.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• HDFC has reported 7.76% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,168.58 crore for Q3FY22 as compared to Rs 5,724.23 crore for Q3FY21. 
• Eicher Motors' motorcycle division has reported 15% fall in sales at 58,838 units in January 2022 as compared to 68,887 motorcycles sold in January 2021. 
• Adani Port & SEZ has reported 6.20% fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,478.76 crore for Q3FY22 as compared to Rs 1,576.53 crore for Q3FY21. 
• Hero MotoCorp has sold 380,476 units of motorcycles and scooters in January 2022.