Indian equity benchmarks ended with minor gains on Thursday on the back of selective buying in metals, capital goods and telecom stocks. Markets opened on a positive note amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 2,766.75 crore on March 6, provisional data from the NSE showed. However, key gauges soon turned volatile as traders avoided any unwarranted position ahead of extended weekend for the Indian markets. Traders remained cautious as Crisil Ratings stated that India's real GDP growth will moderate to 6.8 per cent in FY2025 from the 7.6 per cent expected in the ongoing fiscal. Higher interest rates and demand being tempered by lower fiscal impulse will lead to the moderation of growth. Some concern also came as Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data showed that foreign direct equity (FDI) investments contracted by 21 per cent Y-o-Y to $41.31 billion during the calendar year 2023. The sustained contraction in investment inflows comes against the backdrop of uncertainties and challenges in the global economy. But, key gauges managed to keep their heads above water during second half of trading session and settled with marginal gains. Traders took support with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the Indian economy is likely to grow more than the National Statistical Office (NSO) estimate of 7.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY24) and it could be close to 8 per cent. Adding to the optimism, the report said the government has prepared a strategy to step up outreach to foreign investors in a bid to attract foreign investments and showcase India's burgeoning opportunities. The government has commenced roadshows to pitch Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to potential investors. Traders took note of report that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India and Japan are natural partners in a world headed towards re-globalisation, asserting that the two nations also share basic affinities, being democracies and market economies. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 33.40 points or 0.05% to 74,119.39 and the CNX Nifty was up by 19.50 points or 0.09% to 22,493.55.

The US markets ended lower on Friday on account of profit taking. Further, buying interest remained somewhat subdued as traders seemed reluctant to continue buying stocks ahead of the release of key inflation data next week that could have a more profound impact on the outlook for rates. However, the early strength on markets came as the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates. While job growth in February came in much stronger than expected, the report also showed notable downward revisions to job growth in the two previous months. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by 275,000 jobs in February, while street had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs. However, the report also said job growth in December and January was downwardly revised to 290,000 and 229,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 167,000 jobs. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in February from 3.7 percent in January. Street had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged. The downward revisions and the unexpected increase in the unemployment rate combined with a slowdown in the annual rate of wage growth has added to optimism the Federal Reserve will begin lowering interest rates in June. on the sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks helped lead the downturn on the day after helping to lead the markets higher on Thursday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plummeting by 4.0 percent.

Crude oil futures ended lower with cut of over one percent on Friday on account of uncertainty about the outlook for demand from China as data showed a drop in the country's oil imports in the first two months of the year, compared to December 2023. Customs data showed Chinese imports of crude oil rose 5.1% in the first two months of 2024 from a year earlier. However, imports were down 5.7% compared to December 2023, the data showed. Benchmark crude oil futures for April delivery fell $0.92 or about 1.2% to settle at $78.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery was down by $0.88 or about 1.1% to $82.08 per barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee appreciated against the US dollar on Thursday tracking a weak American currency against major crosses overseas and a positive trend in equity markets. Some support came after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Indian economy is likely to grow more than the National Statistical Office (NSO) estimate of 7.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY24) and it could be close to 8 per cent. Traders overlooked Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data showing that foreign direct equity (FDI) investments contracted by 21 per cent Y-o-Y to $41.31 billion during the calendar year 2023. On the global front, U.S. dollar eased on Thursday and hit a one-month low against the yen as traders zeroed in on the idea that U.S. interest rates were likely to fall this year even after some upside surprises on inflation. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.67 (Provisional), stronger by 16 paise from its previous close of 82.83 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 19941.96 crore against gross selling of Rs 14257.59 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2776.96 crore with gross sales of Rs 485.18 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 25.10 crore against gross selling of Rs 22.79 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Friday after touching record highs during the session, with high-flying chip stocks going reverse and a mixed labour market report showing more new jobs than expected with a rising unemployment rate. Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday with artificial intelligence darling Nvidia finishing down more than 5 percent in its worst session since late May. Indian markets moved in a narrow range around the neutral lines and ended the session with slender gains on Thursday. Markets were closed on Friday on account of Mahashivratri. Today, markets are likely to make cautious start of the week as investors likely to remain on sidelines ahead of domestic retail and wholesale inflation data for February, along with IIP data for January, to be out later in the week. However, some support will come amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 7,304.11 crore on March 7, provisional data from the NSE showed. Sentiments may get a boost as Moody's Ratings raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY24 to around 8 per cent from 6.6 per cent on the back of strong domestic consumption and capital expenditure. The estimate comes a day after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the economic growth in the current financial year could be close to 8 per cent in view of the third quarter GDP data released by the government. Traders will be taking encouragement as data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that foreign exchange reserves rose $6.6 billion to a two-year high of $625.6 billion in the week ended March 1. In the previous week, reserves had risen $3 billion to $619.1 billion. Traders may take note of report that India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed a landmark trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) to open up the EFTA markets for Indian businesses and the Indian markets for the EFTA. As part of the deal, the EFTA countries have committed to invest $100 billion in India over the next 15 years. The EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Meanwhile, Markets regulator Sebi has extended the deadline till March 28 for submitting public comments on the proposal to revamp the nominations framework, a move aimed at reducing unclaimed assets in the securities market. Metal stocks will be in focus as credit rating agency ICRA expects domestic steel consumption growth to moderate to 7-8 per cent in the next financial year (FY25), after three back-to-back years of double-digit growth. The rating agency expects the operating environment to remain challenging in the next financial year as the industry navigates through a period of softness in steel prices, elevated input costs, a temporary deceleration in domestic demand growth close to the elections, and a weak external environment. There will be some reaction in coal industry stocks as the Coal Ministry said production of Coal India hit a record 703.91 million tonnes (MT) in this fiscal until March 7, surpassing the last fiscal's output of 703.20 MT.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Tata Motors is all set to increase the price of its commercial vehicles with effective from April 01, 2024, up to 2%.
• Cipla's wholly owned subsidiary -- Goldencross Pharma (Goldencross) has completed the sale of its entire shareholding in Wellthy Therapeutics.
• HCL Technologies has entered into partnership with ServiceNow to deliver new generative AI (GenAI)-led solutions.
• Asian Paints' wholly-owned subsidiary -- Asian Paints (Polymers) has entered into requisite agreements with Gujarat Chemical Port to set up an Ethylene storage and handling facility in Dahej, Gujarat.