Indian equity benchmarks took a breather and ended in negative territory on Thursday, owing to a sell-off in counters such as Ultratech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, and Indusind Bank. The benchmarks staged a gap down opening, on sell-off in the global peers. Rising coronavirus cases also impacted the sentiments in the markets. Trade sentiment remained cautious with private report stated that the public health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as the top threat for Indian corporates, while cyber attacks and data frauds loom equally large. Some anxiety also came with former Deputy Governor of RBI Viral Acharya's statement that revising up inflation bands for the central bank will hurt the poor. He also said India has to devise ways of pushing up growth in a structural manner and not by pump-priming measures like easy credit and easy liquidity. However, in the late afternoon session, Indian equities managed to recover from the lowest point of the day, as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised the growth forecast for India in the current fiscal year to minus 8 percent from the minus 9 percent projection in September while keeping the outlook for the next fiscal year at 8 percent. At the same time, it said economic activity in developing Asia is forecast to contract by 0.4 percent this year before picking up to 6.8 percent in 2021 as the region moves toward recovery from the effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Some respite also come as the Union Cabinet approved Rs 22,810 crore outlay for a new employment scheme that aims at encouraging businesses to do fresh hiring. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 143.62 points or 0.31% to 45,959.88, while the CNX Nifty was down by 50.80 points or 0.38% to 13,478.30.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday as traders kept an eye on the latest developments in Washington amid lingering uncertainty about a new fiscal stimulus bill. The House has passed a one-week funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, although lawmakers remain at a stalemate over coronavirus relief. The impasse partly reflects a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over including aid for state and local governments. Meanwhile, traders were also reacting to a Labor Department report showing a significant increase in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended December 5th. The report said initial jobless claims jumped to 853,000, an increase of 137,000 from the previous week's revised level of 716,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 725,000 from the 712,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the much bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 873,000 in the week ended September 19th. A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a modest increase in US consumer prices in the month of November. The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in November after coming in unchanged in October. The uptick in consumer prices matched street estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices still edged up by 0.2 percent in November after showing no change in the previous month. Street had expected core prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday on optimism over the rollout of coronavirus vaccines offset data showing a sharp increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. After the UK, Canada has approved Pfizer's Covid vaccine. Canada expects to begin its immunization rollout as early as next week. Further, oil prices were also supported by report about an attack on an Iraqi oilfield. Private report, quoting Iraqi oil ministry, said a small oilfield in Khabbaz in northern Iraq was set on fire on Wednesday in a terrorist attack. Crude oil futures for January rose $1.26 or 2.8 percent to settle at $46.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude surged $1.54 or 3.15 percent to settle at $50.40 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended weaker against dollar on Thursday with fresh dollar demand by banks and importers. Sentiments got hit with former Deputy Governor of RBI Viral Acharya's statement that revising up inflation bands for the central bank will hurt the poor. He also said India has to devise ways of pushing up growth in a structural manner and not by pump-priming measures like easy credit and easy liquidity. Traders shrugged of reports that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised the growth forecast for India in the current fiscal year to minus 8 percent from the minus 9 percent projection in September while keeping the outlook for the next fiscal year at 8 percent. Besides, losses in the local equity market also dampened sentiments. On the global front; euro stood its ground on Thursday ahead of the European Central Bank unveiling fresh stimulus measures, while sterling fell after post-Brexit trade talks were extended until the weekend in pursuit of an ever elusive breakthrough. Finally, the rupee ended at 73.66, 9 paise weaker from its previous close of 73.57 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9590.87 crore against gross selling of Rs 5937.74 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 391.10 crore with gross sales of Rs 313.29 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6.70 crore against gross selling of Rs 15.44 crore.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday amid Covid-19 relief package optimism and jobless benefits jumping to a near three-month high. Asian markets are trading mixed on Friday as investors kept an eye on negotiations over additional fiscal stimulus in the US. Indian markets snapped a seven-day gaining streak and ended lower Thursday dragged by selling in banking and auto stocks amid negative global cues. Today, the markets are likely to make cautious start tracking mixed cues from global peers. Investors will be eyeing the industrial production and inflation data to be out later in the day. Traders will be concerned as on Thursday, India reported 34,666 fresh Covid-19 cases. Its case tally now stands at 9,796,992. The country's death toll has mounted to 142,222. With 18,68,172 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 866,664, Andhra Pradesh 873,995, Tamil Nadu 795,240, and Kerala 654,000. With 1,575 new cases, Delhi's coronavirus tally has crossed the 600,000 mark. There will be some cautiousness with a private report that India's retail inflation probably fell in November from October but remained above the Reserve Bank of India's target, amid high food and petrol prices. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has barred Hybrid Research Advisory Services and Always Gain Advisory Service from the capital markets for providing unauthorised trading tips to investors. Though, some support may come later in the day as terming India as an attractive destination for investments, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has urged investors to tap the vast opportunities it offers and get good returns at a time when the whole world is finding an alternative destination for investment in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Traders may take note of a private report that the handsome 25 per cent rise in corporate profits in the September quarter amid a sharp contraction in GDP was on the back of wage squeezes, leading to rise in inequalities in India. telecom stocks will be in focus as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering holding two spectrum auctions in 2021, starting with the sale of 4G airwave licences, which are due to expire next year. There will be some reaction in auto stocks with a private report that German auto suppliers Continental, Bosch and Volkswagen, the world's largest carmaker, have warned about a shortage of semiconductor components needed for automotive production.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Maruti Suzuki India is planning to increase prices of its vehicles from January 2021 to offset the adverse impact of rising input costs.  
• M&M has increased stake in its Finland-based arm Sampo Rosenlew Oy to 79.13 percent with the acquisition of additional 1,050 shares for Rs 31.15 crore. 
• SBI's subsidiary -- SBI General Insurance has partnered with Mahindra Insurance Brokers to raise its penetration in tier-II and III cities. 
• RIL's telecom arm -- Jio is working with Realme and other organisations to further lower the price of 4G handsets and other connected devices.