Recouping yesterday's losses, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Tuesday's trade with a gain of around one and a half percentage points with Sensex and Nifty settling above their crucial 48,500 and 14,500 mark respectively. Markets started the day in green as traders took note of report that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das notified bankers to remain watchful of the evolving pandemic situation and also ensure credit flow to different sectors, including to stressed sectors, small borrowers and retail. Domestic sentiments were positive, amid reports that Indians are among the most optimistic globally in terms of their expectations for a return to pre-COVID normal, with over 70 per cent expecting it to happen in less than a year. Importantly, the survey was conducted just before the COVID-19 pandemic was seen moving towards a new peak in India and some other countries. Markets extended rally in second half to end near intraday high levels, as traders took some encouragement with report that the Ministry of Finance in its latest report has showed that provisional net indirect tax collections (GST & Non-GST) for the Financial Year 2020-21 (FY21) grew more than 12% compared to actual Revenue Receipts in FY 2019-20. Traders overlooked weak macro-economic data. Industrial production declined for the second month in a row in February at a faster rate of 3.6 per cent than 0.9 per cent in the previous month. The retail price inflation rate rose to a four-month high of 5.52 per cent in March due to upward movement in core as well as food rates, barring vegetables and cereals. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 660.68 points or 1.38% to 48544.06, while the CNX Nifty was up by 194.00 points or 1.36% to 14,504.80.   

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as traders kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who said the central bank is likely to scale back its asset purchase program well before raising interest rates. Powell said we will reach the time at which we will taper asset purchases when we have made substantial further progress towards our goals from last December. He added that would in all likelihood be before, well before, the time we would consider raising interest rates. We have not voted on that order but that is the sense of the guidance. Meanwhile, the Fed released its Beige Book, which noted economic activity in the US accelerated to a moderate pace from late February to early April. The release of the Beige Book comes two weeks ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting, which is scheduled for April 27-28. On the economic data front, Import prices in the US showed another notable increase in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The report said import prices surged up by 1.2 percent in March after jumping by 1.3 percent in February. Street had expected import prices to climb by 1.0 percent. The Labor Department noted import prices spiked by 4.1 percent from December to March, reflecting the largest three-month increase since May of 2011.

Crude oil futures ended sharply higher on Wednesday buoyed by an upward revision in the global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA has sharply raised its world oil demand estimate for 2021, pointing to further signs that the global economy is recovering faster than previously expected, particularly in the US and China. The agency expects oil demand to grow 230,000 barrels a day faster than previously forecast. The IEA said world oil demand is now expected to expand by 5.7 million b/d in 2021 to 96.7 million b/d, following a collapse of 8.7 million b/d last year. Meanwhile, data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories in the US dropped by 5.9 million barrels last week compared with an expected draw of about 3.5 million barrels. Crude oil futures for May rose $2.97 or 4.9 percent to settle at $63.15 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude gained $2.73 or 4.28 percent to settle at $66.40 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian forex and money markets remained closed on Tuesday on account of Gudi Padwa. Indian forex and money markets remained closed on Wednesday on account of Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti. On Monday, the rupee ended at 75.05, weaker by 32 paise from its previous close of 74.73 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 75.14 and 74.78 respectively.

The FIIs as per Monday's data were net seller in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6320.46 crore against gross selling of Rs 6928.17 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 548.09 crore with gross sales of Rs 1254.63 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8.78 crore against gross selling of Rs 16.17 crore.

The US market ended mostly lower on Wednesday as momentum weakened following an encouraging start to what's expected to be thunderous earnings reporting season. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday tracking caution in Asian peers and as another lockdown starts in Maharashtra on a continued spike in COVID cases. Indian markets ended around 1.5 percent higher on Tuesday after a steep coronavirus-led decline in the last session, as beaten-down banking, metals and auto stocks gained. Markets remain closed on Wednesday on account of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti. Today, the benchmarks are likely to make negative start following mixed global cues and as another lockdown starts in Maharashtra on a continued spike in COVID cases. Investors will be eyeing the WPI data to be out later in the day. Traders will be concerned as breaking all records, India registered its biggest-ever single day spike with 199,569 fresh cases. With this, India's Covid tally has shot up to 14,070,890 cases. India is the 2nd worst-hit nation in terms of total Covid-19 cases. India also witnessed 1,037 fatalities due to covid-19 in a single day. The death toll from the deadly infection stands at 173,152. There will be some cautiousness as Moody's said that the re-imposition of virus management measures following a surge in Covid infections will dent economic activity and could hurt market and consumer sentiment, and it warned of a threat to recovery. However, it said targeted containment measures, versus last year's complete lockdown, and rapid vaccination will soften the hit on the economy. However, some support may come later in the day as asserting that the government is committed to ensuring adequate availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for harnessing the combined power of community groups, political parties and NGOs in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Traders may take note of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that India is keen to advance talks with the European Union (EU) towards an agreement on investment facilitation and protection for mutually beneficial outcome. There will be some buzz in auto stocks as auto industry body SIAM termed the government's move to extend the FAME II certification validity by one year as a step in the right direction. It said the measure will enable FAME II eligibility certificate valid for one year from the last date of certification instead of the financial year norm earlier. There will be some reaction in real estate sector stocks with CARE Ratings' report that the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country and fears of second wave might hamper the recovery in the real estate sector witnessed in the last six months. There will be some important result reactions too, to keep the markets in action.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has received approval from expert panel for emergency use of Russia's covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in the India, with certain conditions. 
• L&T's Power Transmission & Distribution Business has secured the go-ahead to begin constructing the 300 MW Jeddah Solar PV Power Plant. 
• Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary -- JLR has achieved retail sales of 123,483 vehicles in Q4 Fiscal 2020/21, 12.4% higher than the same quarter last year.  
• Cipla has doubled production of COVID-19 medication remdesivir to help meet unprecedented demand as the country battles a massive second wave of infections.