Indian equity benchmarks experienced a volatile trading session with an ongoing battle between the bulls and bears but managed to eke out marginal gains on Tuesday.  After making a slightly positive start, markets added gains amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,212.76 crore on March 11, provisional data from the NSE showed. Sentiments got a boost as a report by India Ratings and Research said India will join the coveted club of upper-middle income countries by FY36. The ratings agency's report estimated that by FY47, it will become a $15 trillion economy. Some support also came as Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that during this fiscal, the country's goods and services export numbers will be at the same level; as it was last year despite slowdown and uncertainties in the global trade. He also said that the government measures such production-linked incentives schemes and focus on high-quality goods and services would help in containing the country's trade deficit. But, markets were volatile during the day but managed to keep their heads above water for the most part of the session. Traders took a note of CEO of Crisil Amish Mehta's statement that the Indian economy is expected to show resilience on the back of sustained domestic demand and consumption. He added that the agency expects GDP growth in the upcoming fiscal to moderate to 6.8 per cent.  Finally, markets ended flat, as investors remained on sidelines ahead of the India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data to be out later in the day. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 165.32 points or 0.22% to 73,667.96 and the CNX Nifty was up by 3.05 points or 0.01% to 22,335.70.

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday with Nasdaq settling over one and half percent. The strength on markets reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in the month of February. The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.4 percent in February after rising by 0.3 percent in January. The increase matched street estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices also rose by 0.4 percent in February, matching the increase seen in January. Economists had expected core prices to rise by 0.3 percent. The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth ticked up to 3.2 percent in February from 3.1 percent in January. The year-over-year growth was expected to be unchanged. Meanwhile, the annual rate of core consumer price growth slowed to 3.8 percent in February from 3.9 percent in January. Street had expected the pace of growth to decelerate to 3.7 percent. While core price growth slowed by slightly less than expected, the slowdown still seems to have added to optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates in June. on the sectoral front, Software stocks saw substantial strength on the day, resulting in a 2.6 percent surge by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Oracle (ORCL) led the sector higher, soaring by 11.8 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and strong cloud revenue growth. Semiconductor stocks also showed a significant move back to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.1 percent.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Tuesday as slightly hotter than expected U.S. inflation data and persisting worries about the outlook for demand from China outweighed a report from OPEC that said global oil demand will likely remain strong this year and in 2025. OPEC expects oil demand this year to rise 1.43 million barrels per day over the previous year, slightly up from an earlier forecast for a rise of 1.42 million barrels per day. However, oil prices climbed higher earlier in the day amid tensions in the Middle East, where Israeli forces continue their deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip. Benchmark crude oil futures for April delivery fell $0.37 or about 0.47% to settle at $77.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, Brent crude for May delivery was up by $0. 71 or about 0.87% to $81.92 per barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday ahead of the release of key macroeconomic data. Traders overlooked reports that Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that during this fiscal, the country's goods and services export numbers will be at the same level; as it was last year despite slowdown and uncertainties in the global trade. He also said that the government measures such production-linked incentives schemes and focus on high-quality goods and services would help in containing the country's trade deficit. On the global front, dollar held broadly steady on Tuesday ahead of key U.S. inflation data due later in the day, while the yen firmed near a one-month high on mounting expectations the Bank of Japan could exit negative interest rates as early as next week. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.78 (Provisional), weaker by 3 paise from its previous close of 82.75 on Monday.

The FIIs as per Tuesday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 23302.51 crore against gross selling of Rs 19357.00 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2009.87 crore with gross sales of Rs 1671.99 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 62.15 crore against gross selling of Rs 32.01 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday with the S&P 500 registering a record high close as Oracle shares surged and consumer price data failed to dampen investors' hopes of interest rate cuts in the coming months. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Wednesday after Wall Street jumped overnight, following US inflation data that largely met expectations. Indian markets ended higher with marginal gains on Tuesday led by gains in index heavyweights - HDFC Bank, TCS and Reliance Industries. Today, markets are likely to get an optimistic start tracking broadly positive cues from global markets. Also, in line with street estimate, India's inflation data likely to aid domestic sentiments. Retail inflation in February eased to a four-month low of 5.09 per cent, remaining within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone of 6 per cent for the sixth month in a row, showed a government data. The February inflation print based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was almost unchanged compared to the January number of 5.1 per cent, though prices of certain items in the food basket firmed up. Foreign fund inflows likely to support markets. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 73.12 crore on March 12, provisional data from the NSE showed. However, fall in industrial growth data likely to dampen sentiments in the markets. India's industrial production growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in January, according to the latest government data. Growth in factory output, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed mainly due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors. There may be some cautiousness as a report of economic think tank GTRI stated that with escalating everyday attacks and no end in sight, the Red Sea crisis will adversely impact trade volumes in substantial ways in 2024. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that rising shipping, and insurance costs and delayed arrival of shipments will continue to disrupt global value chains, squeeze margins, and make exports of many low-margin products unviable from current locations. There will be some buzz in the automobile industry stocks with the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) showing that passenger vehicles in India recorded their highest-ever February domestic sales of 370,786 units this year, 10.8 per cent higher than 334,790 units in February last year. As per the data, two-wheelers and three-wheelers also witnessed higher sales in February this year as compared to the last year. Pharma stocks will be in focus after the Department of Pharmaceuticals notified a new code which prohibits pharma companies from offering gifts and travel facilities to healthcare professionals or their family members. Meanwhile, JG Chemicals will make debut on the exchanges against the issue price is Rs 221.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Wipro has expanded its partnership with Nutanix Inc to launch new Nutanix-focused business unit.
• HCL Technologies has been recognized for its talent readiness and digital talent capability by Everest Group and Avasant.
• Tech Mahindra has signed a strategic partnership with Etihad Etisalat to deliver best-in-class loyalty programs for individual and business customers.
• ITC has acquired 2,356 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares of Rs 10 each of Sproutlife Foods (Sproutlife), in terms of the Securities Subscription & Purchase Agreement and the Shareholders Agreement executed on April 19, 2023.