Indian equity benchmarks traded under pressure for the third consecutive session and lost nearly a percent on Friday, on the back of unabated selling pressure in select index heavyweights. Markets made a gap-down opening, as the Centre extended the nationwide Covid-19 containment measures till November 30 as there has been localised spread of the virus in a few states and the disease continues to be a public health challenge in the country. However, key gauges recovered most of initial losses in late morning deals, taking support from the city-based thinktank NCAER stating that most of the sectors are on their way to reach pre-pandemic levels and surpass them. The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said the economic news has been favourable on balance, on account of better than projected fiscal outcomes, a rebound in most high-frequency indicators, and another impetus to policy reform, including a hitherto inconceivable privatisation of Air India. However, markets failed to hold recovery and fell sharply in afternoon deals, even as SBI Research's report stating that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should let the rupee rally against the dollar to contain imported inflation coming in mainly from crude prices and help push exports, as the current account risks from rising oil price can be contained at 1.4 per cent of GDP. Market participants also paid no heed towards report that the Ministry of Finance has released the balance of Rs 44,000 crore to the states and union territories (UTs) as a loan to compensate for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) shortfall, taking the total amount to Rs 1.59 lakh crore in 2021-22. This release of funds as back-to-back loans is in addition to the bi-monthly GST compensation being given out of cess collection. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 677.77 points or 1.13% to 59,306.93 and the CNX Nifty was down by 185.60 points or 1.04% to 17,671.65.

The US markets showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session and settled higher with modest gains in Friday. The rebound on the day lifted the major averages to new record closing highs. A negative reaction to quarterly results from tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) contributed to the early weakness on Wall Street. Shares of Apple climbed off their worst levels but closed notably lower after the iPhone maker reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that matched participants estimates but weaker than expected sales amid supply chain issues. Online retail giant Amazon also ended the day in negative territory after reporting much weaker than expected third quarter results. However, selling pressure waned over the course of the session as traders seemed reluctant to make significant bets ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week. The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program. On the economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed personal income decreased by much more than expected in the month of September. The Commerce Department said personal income slumped by 1.0 percent in September after inching up by 0.2 percent in August. Street had expected personal income to edge down by 0.2 percent. The bigger than expected drop in personal income primarily reflected a decrease in government social benefits, both in unemployment benefits and other benefits. A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by slightly less than initially estimated in the month of October. The report said the consumer sentiment index for October was upwardly revised to 71.7 from the preliminary reading of 71.4.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Friday as rising domestic crude inventories, the potential for revived Iran nuclear talks, and a retreat by natural-gas futures dragged crude prices further away from multiyear highs. Investors are eyeing the OPEC meeting. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, a group called OPEC+, will meet on November 4 to decide on crude output. The group is widely expected to stick to its plan to add 400,000 barrels per day of supply each month until April 2022. Meanwhile, a report from Baker Hughes said the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by one in the latest week to 444. The oil-rig count is up by 221 from a year earlier. Benchmark crude oil futures for December delivery rose 76 cents or about 0.9% to settle at $83.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Besides, Brent crude for December delivery added 6 cents or 0.1 percent to settle at $84.38 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended higher against the American currency on Friday, due to selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Sentiments were positive as SBI Research's report stated that the RBI should let the rupee rally against the dollar to contain imported inflation coming in mainly from crude prices and help push exports, as the current account risks from rising oil price can be contained at 1.4 per cent of GDP. However, upside remained capped as Centre extended the nationwide Covid-19 containment measures till November 30 as there has been localized spread of the virus in a few states and the disease continues to be a public health challenge in the country. On the global front, sterling recovered some of the previous session's losses against the euro on Friday but was little changed against the dollar, struggling to break above $1.38, as market attention focused on the possibility of a Bank of England rate hike next week. Finally, the rupee ended 74.88, stronger by 4 paise from its previous close of 74.92 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net seller in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9681.10 crore against gross selling of Rs 12117.23 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 337.61 crore with gross sales of Rs 848.04 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8.50 crore against gross selling of Rs 6.68 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Friday as a rise in Microsoft helped offset declines in Amazon and Apple after disappointing quarterly earnings from the online retailer and iPhone maker. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday as traders digested the outcome of Japan's election and fresh all-time highs for US shares. Indian markets fell 1 percent and extended the profit booking on the third straight session on Friday. Today, the start of new week is likely to be flat-to-positive tracking gains on global peers. Investors will track Manufacturing PMI for October due to be released later today. Sentiments will get a boost as OECD data showed that global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows rebounded in the first half of 2021 to reach $870 billion, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 43 per cent and more than double that of the second half of 2020. Some support will come as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that retail -- covering housing and vehicles, credit cards, etc -- showed an accelerated growth rate of 12.1 per cent in September 2021 against 8.4 per cent in September 2020. Besides, in a relief to small-size firms, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed rules for opening current accounts with the banking system's exposure of less than Rs 5 crore. The RBI asked banks to take an undertaking from borrowers that they will inform lenders when the credit facilities availed reaches Rs 5 crore or more. However, there may be some cautiousness as growth of eight core industries dropped to 4.4 per cent in September from 11.5 per cent in the previous month due to flat fertilizer production, decline in crude oil output and slowdown in expansion of electricity generation. Meanwhile, government data showed India's federal fiscal deficit during April-September, the first half of the current fiscal year, stood at 5.27 trillion rupees ($70.4 billion) or 35% of the budgeted target for the whole year. Banking stocks will be in focus with report that Public sector banks will implement common staff accountability policies for loan accounts up to Rs 50 crore, excluding fraud accounts, turning into non-performing assets (NPAs) on or after April 1, 2022. Additionally, auto firms will also begin announcing their monthly sales figures for October today onwards. In the primary market, initial share sale of Policybazaar.com will open today while Nykaa's IPO will enter last day and Fino Payment Bank's offer will enter its second day.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Wipro in partnership with Oracle, has launched Wipro Tollway Transportation and Billing solution to enhance commuters' experience while improving profitability for tollway authorities. 
• Tata Motors has signed an MOU with BluSmart Mobility for expanding their all-electric fleet multi-fold across Delhi NCR, and for the same, the Company has bagged a contract to supply 3,500 XPRES T EVs. 
• Bajaj Auto has launched the all-new Pulsar 250 in two variants R250 and N250, priced at Rs 1.40 lakh and Rs 1.38 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively. 
• Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has launched its medicine ILUMYA used in the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in Canada.