Indian equity benchmarks reversed all of their early gains to end lower in a volatile trade on Friday, due to selling in Oil & Gas, PSU and Energy shares. Markets began session in the green as traders took support with World Economic Forum President Borge Brende's statement that India is on track to become a $10 trillion economy in coming years and grab the third-largest slot soon. He described the country as a place with optimism not seen elsewhere in a very fragmented and polarised world. Some support also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that robust tax collections had given the Centre confidence to go ahead with increased capital expenditure and continue investment in infrastructure projects. However, markets soon turned volatile and consolidated for the day as profit booking on higher levels kept traders on tenterhooks. Some anxiety also came in as India Ratings and Research said India's GDP is expected to grow by 6.5 percent in 2024-25. While this would represent a decline from the statistics ministry's first advance estimate of 7.3 percent for the current financial year, the prospect of the private investment cycle bodes well for the economy. Traders also remained cautious after a private report predicts a rise in dissenters within the Monetary Policy Committee in the next Reserve Bank of India's bi-monthly meetings, signalling potential rifts among RBI members on the economic outlook. The report anticipates at least two out of six MPC members to vote for a cut in the upcoming meetings. Besides, rising crude oil prices, upsurge in bond yields and consistent FII selling also weighed on sentiments on Dalal Street. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 15.44 points or 0.02% to 73,142.80 and the CNX Nifty was down by 4.75 points or 0.02% to 22,212.70.

The US markets ended mostly in green on Friday. The early upward move reflected an extension of the rally seen during Thursday's session, which came on the heels of upbeat earnings news from AI darling Nvidia (NVDA). However, overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued as the day progressed, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports next week. The Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending is likely to be in focus next week, as it includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on durable goods orders, new home sales, consumer confidence and manufacturing activity. On the sectoral front, reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day. Gold stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, resulting in a 1.8 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength among gold stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery jumping $18.70 to $2,049.40 an ounce. However, semiconductor stocks gave back ground after helping lead Thursday's rally, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 1.1 percent. Airline stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, moving lower along with oil service and computer hardware stocks.

Crude oil futures ended deeply in reed on Friday as concerns about the outlook for demand and the recent data showing a jump in U.S. crude inventories weighed on prices. Data showing a contraction in the German economy and persisting worries about an economic slowdown in China raised concerns about oil demand. Besides, uncertainty about Federal Reserve's interest-rate outlook also contributed to the drop in oil prices. Benchmark crude oil futures for April delivery fell $2.12 or 2.65% to settle at $76.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery dropped $2.05 or 2.45% to $81.62 per barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended lower against the dollar on Friday tracking a strong American currency and muted trend in domestic equities. Some cautiousness came in as India Ratings and Research said India's GDP is expected to grow by 6.5 percent in 2024-25. While this would represent a decline from the statistics ministry's first advance estimate of 7.3 percent for the current financial year, the prospect of the private investment cycle bodes well for the economy. Meanwhile, private report predicts a rise in dissenters within the Monetary Policy Committee in the next Reserve Bank of India's bi-monthly meetings, signalling potential rifts among RBI members on the economic outlook. The report anticipates at least two out of six MPC members to vote for a cut in the upcoming meetings. On the global front, yen sagged on the euro, sterling and other crosses this week and headed for a fourth weekly drop against the dollar on Friday as investors chased better yields just about everywhere else, wagering Japan's rates would stay near zero for some time. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.92 (Provisional), weaker by 7 paise from its previous close of 82.85 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 14613.14 crore against gross selling of Rs 14801.18 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1272.62 crore with gross sales of Rs 775.81 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 21.13 crore against gross selling of Rs 21.84 crore.

The US markets ended mostly in green on Friday with all three Wall Street benchmarks scoring weekly gains, as artificial intelligence stocks had enough steam to keep the rally chugging along. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Monday as investors awaited inflation data from the United States, Japan and Europe that will help refine expectations for future rate moves. Indian markets ended volatile session in red on Friday as U.S. 10-year treasury yields rose for the third straight session and edged near three-month highs, following hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official. Today, markets are likely to get cautious start of the F&O expiry week as investors' focus will shift to GDP data due this week in both India and the US along with major macro-economic data. There will be some cautiousness as data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that India's foreign exchange reserves declined to $616.10 billion as on February 16. However, foreign fund inflows likely to aid sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,276.09 crore on February 23, provisional data from the NSE showed. Traders may be taking encouragement after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India has moved up to the fifth position from the 10th spot in the world in terms of economy. Besides, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet heads of several top fintech companies including Amazon Pay, Zerodha, LendingKart, Pine Labs, and Cred on February 26, 2024 along with a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to discuss the ongoing regulatory issues in the sector. There will be some buzz in infrastructure stocks the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said the overall highway construction in the country would be around 12,000-13,000 kilometres by the end of this financial year (FY24). Asset Reconstruction Companies stocks will be in focus as the CRISIL-Assocham report the assets under management of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) are expected to grow at eight to nine per cent to touch the Rs 1.5 trillion mark by March 2024. It may expand at a slower pace of 5-8 per cent in the next financial year (FY25), where the asset base could reach the Rs 1.6 trillion level. There will be some reaction in paper industry stocks as the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) said imports of paper and paperboards have increased by 37 per cent to around 1.47 million tonnes in April-December this fiscal, which have hit the local paper mills. Meanwhile, the markets will be open for trading on Saturday (March 02, 2024) as stock exchanges test its Disaster Recovery preparedness. Trading will be in two sessions on Saturday, from 09.15 to 10 AM followed by 11.30 to half-past noon.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Mahindra & Mahindra has launched the Scorpio-N Z8 Select variant, a significant addition to its acclaimed Scorpio-N Z8 premium range.
• Bharti Airtel is set to revolutionise anime viewing in India with the introduction of Anime Booth -- a linear service of Culver Max Entertainment available to Indian viewers in Hindi to begin with.
• NTPC REL, a step-down subsidiary of NTPC through its wholly owned subsidiary NTPC Green Energy, has commenced Commercial Operation of first part capacity of 70 MW out of 150 MW Chhattargarh Solar PV Project in Bikaner, Rajasthan with effect from February 21, 2024, consequent upon successful commissioning and due approvals.
• Walt Disney Co. and Reliance Industries have reportedly signed a binding pact to merge their media operations in India.