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Indian markets extended gains to a third straight day on Thursday. Today, the start of session is likely to be cautious following weakness in global markets amid concerns over Omicron variant. Health Ministry has said that there are 23 cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in India and authorities are closely monitoring the situation. Maharashtra leads the chart with 10 cases, followed by Rajasthan with nine, while globally there are 2303 cases of Omicron variant. However, some support may come later in the day as a private report expects the economy to continue to show positive surprises and record up to 9 percent growth in the next fiscal. For the current financial year too, the report anticipates growth to be higher than the consensus forecast of 8.4-9.5 percent, and printing in at around 10.5 percent. Traders may take note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that for a strong, sustainable and inclusive recovery of the global economy hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries. There will be some buzz in the power industry stocks as dispatch of coal by state-owned CIL to the power sector increased 22.5 per cent to 340 million tonne (MT) during April-November period of the ongoing fiscal year. CIL's despatches to coal-based power plants in the year-ago period stood at 277.4 MT. Software sector stocks will be in focus with research firm IDC’s report that the software market in India is estimated to surpass $8.2 billion by the end of the calendar year 2021. There will be some reaction in jewelry industry stocks as a report by the World Gold Council (WGC) showed that imports made up 86 per cent of India’s gold supply between 2016-2020, and inbound shipments continue to grow despite high import duty. Shares of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health and Allied Insurance Company will list on the stock exchanges today. The IPO of the private insurance company saw a weak response with subscription tally reaching only 0.79 times. The issue size of the public issue was trimmed post IPO to Rs 6,400 crore from nearly Rs 7,200 crore. Shriram Properties will enter the final day of bidding while it is the second day to subscribe to C.E Info Systems. Metro Brands issue will open today.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday following positive updates on the Omicron coronavirus variant, with focus now turning towards inflation data for clues on the Federal Reserve's policy decision. Asian markets are trading in red on Friday amid renewed concerns about COVID-19, and as investors awaited key US inflation data that could set direction on interest rates.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks managed to close higher for the third straight session on Thursday, led by gains in index heavyweights like ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Asian Paints. The benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses for most part of the day owing to volatility as weekly index futures and options expired. After making slightly positive start, key indices slipped into red as traders turned cautious amid reports of foreign fund outflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 579.27 crore, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Some anxiety also spread among investors with private report stated that India's retail inflation likely accelerated last month towards the upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India's target range as fruit and vegetable prices climbed. Adding to the pessimism, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) admitted that credit growth is ‘very low’ given the size and growth rate of the economy and said for both the numbers to match, ‘the very very wide output gap’ has to close. Thereafter, the benchmarks recouped losses to trade in green terrain in second half of the session, as traders found some support with Pradeep Multani, President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s statement that the accommodative policy stance at this juncture would not only pave the way for a double digit GDP growth in the current year 2021-22, but will also help in creating a strong, sustainable and vibrant economy going forward. Some solace also came with a private report stated that India's outbound goods shipments rose 44.24% year-on-year in the first week of December, led by a jump in exports of petroleum products, gems and jewellery and engineering goods. Merchandise exports were $8.5 billion during December 1-7. Traders also took a note of report that Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta defended the central bank's more-than-anticipated dovish stance wherein the MPC unanimously voted to continue with an accommodative policy, saying ‘our overarching policy focus and priority now is supporting growth’ amid the threat of a third wave of COVID-19 and the legroom a cooling inflation print offers. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 157.45 points or 0.27% to 58,807.13 and the CNX Nifty was up by 47.10 points or 0.27% to 17,516.85.

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