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Indian markets ended a volatile session in the red on Tuesday dragged by oil & gas, metal and IT shares though gains in select financial and FMCG names limited the downside. Today, markets are likely to make cautious start amid concerns of a global economic slowdown. Traders will be concerned as data released by the RBI showed that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) nearly halved to $3.39 billion in April on an annual basis. The OFDI stood at $6.71 billion in April 2021. On sequential basis too, the outward investment from India in April was lower compared to USD 3.44 billion in March 2022. There will be some cautiousness with a private report that the goods and services tax (GST) council is mulling a 28 per cent tax on crypto currencies, at par with the current GST on casinos, betting and lottery. Traders may take note of a report that Commerce and industry ministers of India and Oman will hold a meeting on May 11, 2022 to discuss ways to further boost economic ties between the two countries. The bilateral trade between the two countries has risen by 82 per cent to $9.94 billion in 2021-22. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked states to build infrastructure and do energy planning thereby ensuring uninterrupted, quality supply of power is made available to industries at reasonable rates, enabling them to grow their businesses. Oil & gas industry stocks will be in focus with report that India's fuel consumption moderated and slipped 4% in April from the previous month, as elevated domestic prices slowed activity in the world's third biggest oil consumer. There will be some reaction in edible oil industry stocks with report that India's edible oil imports are set to fall for the third year in a row on a rise in local oilseed supplies and as a rally in vegetable oil prices to a record high dented demand. Insurance industry stocks will be in limelight with a private report that the life insurance business this fiscal will face some pressure owing to a combination of factors like reversing interest rate cycle, volatility in the stock markets, high inflation and the return of postponed discretionary consumption hitting the middle class savings. There will be some earnings announcements too to keep the markets buzzing. In the primary market, logistics services giant Delhivery’s Rs 5,235 crore IPO will open for subscription today. Stainless steel pipes and tubes manufacturer Venus Pipes & Tubes’ IPO will also open for subscription today and close on Friday.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday with big growth shares rising after the previous day's selloff as Treasury yields tumbled. Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday as investors globally await a key US inflation reading to assess the course of monetary policy action going forward.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower in highly volatile trade on Tuesday due to selling pressure in metal, utilities, power and realty stocks. The markets opened on a negative note amid weak global cues and remained volatile through the day, oscillating between gains and losses. Traders were concerned with a private report that Indian retail inflation likely surged to an 18-month high in April, largely driven by rising fuel and food prices and staying well above the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance limit for a fourth consecutive month. There was some cautiousness as Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik said increasing inflation and unemployment are going to create a situation of crisis in the country but no leader is ready to speak on the issues. However, key gauges managed to trade in green terrain in afternoon deals, taking support from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that with licence quota raj prevailing during the 70 years of Congress regime, the policy change brought in by the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created new opportunities for the private sector by allowing them to manufacture products that were normally made by public sector units (PSUs). Some support also came with private report stated that improving business sentiment has boosted the overall hiring demand which witnessed a 15 per cent year-on-year growth in April, led by banking, financial services and insurance sector as well as recovery in the retail sector. However, benchmarks failed to hold on to the green in volatile trade, as traders are concerned that central banks of key developed economies could resort to more rate hikes going ahead to temper rising inflation, which could hurt growth and trigger more foreign fund outflows from emerging markets, including India. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 105.82 points or 0.19% to 54,364.85 and the CNX Nifty was down by 61.80 points or 0.38% to 16,240.05.

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