Indian equity benchmarks snapped their 2-day losing streak and ended higher in a lacklustre trade on Thursday amid stock-specific bets by investors. Markets made negative start as traders got anxious with Fitch's statement that India's medium-term growth outlook will assume a more critical role in sovereign assessment due to higher deficits and a slower consolidation path. Also, India recorded 12,760 fresh Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). However, benchmark indices soon turned positive and traded in a narrow range on the back of heightened volatility owing to weekly expiry of index derivative contract. Traders also took note of SBI Research revised its contraction forecast for the current fiscal year to 7 per cent. The agency had earlier forecast a 7.4 per cent contraction in 2020-21 GDP numbers. Markets extended gains in last hour of trading session, taking support from Industry body the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stating that steps taken by the government is helping the country's exports to record positive growth and the trend is expected to continue. Sentiments remained positive with Engineering Export Promotion Council of India stating the country's engineering exports have increased by 18.69 per cent in January this year and demand for such products in the international markets is expected to be steady in the remaining two months of the current fiscal. Some support also came with private report stated that the job market continues to improve sequentially across the country and job postings in some industries have improved, with some doing even better than the pre-Covid levels, led by IT, agro-based sectors. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 222.13 points or 0.43% to 51,531.52, while the CNX Nifty was up by 66.80 points or 0.44% to 15,173.30.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday on optimism about additional stimulus continued to support the markets along with largely upbeat earnings news, a slowdown in the rate of coronavirus infections and accelerated vaccine rollouts. Traders have recently seemed somewhat reluctant to make substantial moves amid concerns the markets are becoming overbought. However, the chopping trading on market came as buying interest was somewhat subdued following recent strength, but traders also largely refrained from cashing in on the recent gains amid concerns about missing out on further upside. Traders were also digesting a report from the Labor Department showing jobless claims decreased from an upwardly revised level but came in above estimates. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 793,000 in the week ended February 6th, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 812,000. Street had expected jobless claims to drop to 757,000 from the 779,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday after eight straight days of gains. There is speculation that Saudi Arabia might consider reducing output by less than 1 million barrels per day. Meanwhile. a report from the European Commission, which said in its interim Winter forecast that the near-term outlook for the euro area looks weaker than expected last autumn, as the pandemic tightened its grip on the region. EC expects the euro area to grow 3.8% this year, instead of 4.2% projected previously. The outlook for 2022 was raised to 3.8% from 3%. Crude oil futures for March fell $0.44 or 0.8 percent to settle at $58.24 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude dropped $0.60 or 0.98 to settle at $60.87 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally lower against the US dollar on Thursday, on increased demand for the greenback from importers and banks. Investors were concerned with Fitch Ratings' statement that India's high fiscal deficit would pose a challenge in lowering the debt to GDP ratio, which is expected to rise above 90 percent in the next five years. It said the country entered the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic with little fiscal headroom from a rating perspective. However, downfall remain capped as DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey stated that the new PSE policy announced by the government has opened a host of opportunities for the private players who now partake in India's growth story by buying the brownfield assets of public sector enterprises at an attractive valuation. On the global front, IHS Markit's report states that the trading in euro-denominated swaps has fallen sharply in London since Brexit, with volumes moving to New York, Amsterdam and Paris, financial data company. EU platforms accounted for a quarter of the euro swaps market in January, up from just 10% in July last year. Finally, the rupee ended at 72.87, 3 paise weaker from its previous close of 72.84 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyer in equity segment, while net seller in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9054.25 crore against gross selling of Rs 7169.84 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 859.63 crore with gross sales of Rs 1121.65 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 3.57 crore against gross selling of Rs 38.32 crore.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday with investors betting on more fiscal stimulus to ride out a coronavirus-driven recession as data showed a stalling recovery in the labor market. In Asian markets, only Nikkei is trading lower on Friday with major markets in Asia remain closed. Indian markets ended higher on Thursday, snapping 2 days of losses, mainly led by a rise in heavyweight Reliance Industries. Today, the markets are likely to open in red following mixed global cues. Some support will come as the government approved applications from several medical devices manufacturers under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the promotion of domestic manufacturing. Traders may take note of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that the government has constituted a committee comprising members from public and private sectors to look into issues like promoting localisation and boosting manufacturing. Meanwhile, the government sought Parliament's approval for gross additional expenditure of Rs 6.28 lakh crore for 2020-21 as part of the second and final batch of supplementary demands for grants. The proposals involve net cash outgo of Rs 4.13 lakh crore while the remaining amount will be matched by savings of ministries or enhanced receipts. There will be some buzz in sugar sector stocks with trade body All India Sugar Trade Association's (AISTA) statement that India's sugar exports may drop over 24 per cent to around 4.3 million tonnes in the current marketing season 2020-21, due to logistics constrains and less chances of shipments to Iran. Banking stocks will be in focus as Moody's Investors Service said India's economic recovery reduces the risk of a sharp deterioration in public sector banks' asset quality, but the capital would remain insufficient to support credit growth and absorb unexpected shocks. There will be some reaction in jewellery industry stocks with data of the Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) showing that gems and jewellery exports dipped 7.8 percent in January to $2.7 billion as against $2.9 billion a year ago.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• SBI is preparing to start a co-lending model for home loans with an aim to increase its presence in the unorganised segment. 
• Infosys and the Australian Open's Official Digital Innovation Partner, this year is applying technology to enhance tennis experiences for those onsite and those unable to attend in person. 
• Tata Motors' Tata Nexon EV continues to expand its presence across India, exhibiting a significant growth across the southern region in India. 
• Axis Finance, a subsidiary of Axis Bank, has inaugurated its regional office at Trinity Mall.