Extending gaining streak for third straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Friday's session above their crucial 49,200 (Sensex) and 14,800 (Nifty) levels. Markets started the session on optimistic note on account of upbeat earning from blue-chip companies. Traders took encouragement with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's statement that the Centre decided to increase production of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and it will be provided to people at government's price. Adding more optimism, secretary ministry of Earth Sciences, M Rajeevan said India's southwest monsoon is expected to arrive over the Kerala coast on June 1, its normal onset date. Though, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will officially announce the 2021 monsoon onset date on May 15. However, traders pared some of their profit in afternoon deals after the International Monetary Fund said the recent jump in COVID-19 cases in India posed downside risks to the Fund's April forecast for 12.5% growth in India's economic output in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, India reported a record 414,433 new infections and 3,920 deaths on Thursday, according to Worldometer. In the second half of the trade, markets gained momentum and ended the session with a gain of over half a percent as traders got boost with Finance Ministry releasing the second monthly installment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 9,871 crore to 17 states. With the release of the second installment, a total amount of Rs 19,742 crore has been released in the first two months of the current financial year as Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the states. The Centre provides the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the states under Article 275 of the Constitution. Market participants also got some support from report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,222.58 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 632.51 crore in the Indian equity market on 6 May, provisional data showed. Traders shrugged off Fitch Solutions' statement that India is likely to breach its fiscal deficit target in the financial year to March 2022 mainly due to revenue shortfall. The government is targeting a deficit between revenue it earns and what it spends at 6.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY22 (April 2021 to March 2022). Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 256.71 points or 0.52% to 49,206.47, while the CNX Nifty was up by 98.35 points or 0.67% to 14,823.15.

Extending their previous session's gains, the US markets settled higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both finishing the session at new record closing highs. Sentiments got boost following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected job growth in the month of April. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 266,000 jobs in April after surging by a downwardly revised 770,000 jobs in March. Street had expected employment to spike by 978,000 jobs compared to the jump of 916,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The report also showed the unemployment rate inched up to 6.1 percent in April from 6.0 percent in March, while market participants had expected the unemployment rate to drop to 5.8 percent. Traders reacted positively to the report as the weaker than expected data reinforced the view the Federal Reserve will leave ultra-easy monetary policy in place for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, oil service stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session. The rally by oil service stocks came amid a modest increase by the price of crude oil. Considerable strength was also visible among airlines stocks. Steel stocks also showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 2.1 percent to its best closing level in almost ten years. Housing, networking, computer hardware and gold stocks also saw notable strength, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Friday with marginal gains on account of lingering worries about the outlook for energy demand amid a continued surge in coronavirus cases in Asia and the possibility of another shutdown in some countries. Optimism about increased demand for oil in the US and Europe supported oil prices. Still, data showing a smaller than expected increase in US non-farm payroll employment in the month of April hurt a bit. According to the report released by Baker Hughes, the US oil rig count increased by 2 to 344 this week. The gas rig count stood at 103 versus 96 last week, and the total rig count rose by 8 to 448 in the week. Crude oil futures for June rose $0.19 or 0.3 percent to settle at $64.90 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July Brent crude up $0.08 or 0.12 percent to settle at $68.17 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Continuing previous session gains, Indian rupee ended higher against dollar on Friday, owing to dollar sale by exporters and banks. Strong gains in domestic equity markets also provided support to rupee. Sentiments were upbeat as Finance Ministry released the second monthly installment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 9,871 crore to 17 states. With the release of the second installment, a total amount of Rs 19,742 crore has been released in the first two months of the current financial year as Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the states. Adding more optimism, Union Ministry of Finance in its monthly economic review for April stated that the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic poses risks to economic activity but the impact will be muted when compared to the first wave. On the global front, sterling was a touch higher versus the dollar and steadied against the euro on Friday, but was on track for weekly gains against both as traders watched for British election results. Finally, the rupee ended 73.51, stronger by 26 paise from its previous close of 73.78 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6363.57 crore against gross selling of Rs 5277.14 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 513.32 crore with gross sales of Rs 228.42 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 66.52 crore against gross selling of Rs 68.58 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Friday after US jobs data eased concerns over prospects for rising rates. Asian markets are trading in green on Monday amid speculation that interest rates will remain low for an extended period due to the receding risk of a rapid acceleration in inflation. Indian markets ended higher on Friday, following a rise in global peers, mainly led by financials and metal stocks as commodity prices rose. Today, the markets are likely to make gap-up opening of holiday-shortened week tracking firm trend in global peers. A fall in the daily Covid-19 cases may help investors sentiment. With 366,499 fresh infections, India recorded a significant drop in the number of daily Covid-19 cases. Its cumulative caseload now stands at 22,662,410, while 246,146 people have died from the deadly virus. Sentiments will get boost as the Union Health Ministry said more than 72 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories, while over 46 lakh doses will be received by them within the next three days. Traders will be taking encouragement as data of the commerce ministry showed continuing a positive growth, India's exports grew by 80 per cent to $7.04 billion during the first week of this month. Exports during May 1-7 last year stood at $3.91 billion and $6.48 billion in the same week of May 2019. Some support will come as India and the European Union (EU) announced their decision to resume negotiations for a balanced and comprehensive trade agreement after a gap of eight years and unveiled an ambitious connectivity partnership. Traders may take note of S&P Global Ratings' statement that India's credit rating would be retained at the current level for the next two years, and the country will see a slightly faster pace of growth in the next couple of years that will support its sovereign rating. Besides, the finance ministry has released Rs 8,923 crore to 25 states for providing grants to the rural local bodies for various prevention and mitigation measures needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there may be some cautiousness as foreign investors have pulled out Rs 5,936 crore from the Indian equities in the first week of May amid worries over the intense second wave of coronavirus infection and its fallout on the economy. There will be some buzz in pharma stocks with a private report stating that the domestic pharmaceuticals market has seen a rebound in April, with sales growing 51.5 per cent over last year, thanks to the low base of April 2020 and a pick-up in demand for Covid-19 drugs. Banking stocks will be in focus as the Reserve Bank of India data showed that commercial bank credit in India contracted 0.8 per cent (Rs 89,087 crore) in April, reflecting a lean period at the start of the new financial year (FY22) and the adverse effect of the second wave of Covid-19. The outstanding credit as of April 23, 2021, was Rs 108.60 trillion. There will be some important result announcements to keep the markets in action.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• TCS has launched TCS Enterprise Navigator, an integrated consulting-led framework that supports C-suite and executive leaders in realizing perpetual value from their transformation initiatives and driving business growth. 
• NTPC's arm -- NTPC Renewable Energy has entered into a power purchase agreement with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam to sell electricity from its 150 MW solar project. 
• Bajaj Finserv's EMI Store is offering customers a chance to shop for Haier AC on No Cost EMIs starting Rs 1,550. 
• JSW Steel has signed a MoU to conduct a Feasibility Study with JFE Steel Corporation to establish a Grain Oriented Electrical Steel Sheet Manufacturing and Sales Joint-Venture Company in India.