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Indian markets rebounded from intra-day lows in the dying hour of trade to close flat. Today, the start of session is likely to be positive amid mixed global cues and ahead of macro-economic data. On the data front, Industrial production for June and CPI inflation for August will be released today. High volatility could also be on cards amid the weekly F&O expiry. Traders will be taking encouragement as Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said the country's merchandise exports are expected to touch $1 trillion by 2027-28 and the government has laid down a road map, including district as an export hub scheme, to achieve that number. This fiscal, the commerce ministry is aiming at $419 billion of exports and for that a detailed analysis has been carried out and the target was disaggregated at the level of country, commodity, region, and states across 31 commodity groups. Some support will come as days after the Centre withdrew the retrospective tax amendments that led to international arbitration, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said it was the government’s policy to provide a stable and predictable tax regime. He added that robust tax revenues in the first quarter of the current fiscal were encouraging but urged industry to revive the animal spirit as far as private investment is concerned. Traders may take note of Commerce and Industry Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam’s statement that India will fast-track free trade agreements (FTAs) with at least six nations - including the UAE, the UK, Australia, Canada, and the EU - over the next few months, in line with its revamped foreign trade strategy. The earliest one may be inked with the UAE. Besides, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said all restaurants and shopping malls in Maharashtra will be allowed to operate till 10 pm on all days of the week from August 15. The restaurants can function at 50 percent capacity, while only people who have been vaccinated with both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed inside shopping malls. However, there may be some cautiousness as India recorded 43,641 new Covid-19 cases and 519 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its tally to 32,076,974 and the death toll to 429,702. Meanwhile, Today is the last day to subscribe to Chemplast Sanmar and Aptus Value Housing Finance IPOs. Chemplast Sanmar was subscribed 26 per cent, while Aptus Value Housing Finance issue saw 37 per cent subscription on the second day of the bidding process. Aptus Value Housing entirely an offer for sale by selling shareholders.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday after inflation jumped less than investors feared when stripping out volatile food and energy prices. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday with fears about the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus weighing on sentiment.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks staged strong recovery from intraday low levels to close on a flat note on Wednesday. The benchmarks fell soon after opening higher, as traders turned cautious with Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) stating that increasing container freights would push the overall cost of domestic goods in the international markets, which would make it less competitive and hurt the country’s merchandise exports. Selling further crept in as Rating agency Moody's said that the asset quality risks for banks will rise in most parts of ASEAN and India, as the region battles new waves of coronavirus infections amid low vaccination rates. Sentiments remained fragile as report of ICRA stated that the fresh rupee denominated bond issuances witnessed a sharp decline of 45 per cent to Rs 1.3 lakh crore in Q1 FY2022 on a YoY and a QoQ basis (Rs 2.3 lakh crore each in Q4 FY2021 and Q1 FY2021). Some concern also came as analysis by Care Ratings stating that as more and more states continue to borrow less from the markets, cost of their market borrowing fell by 11 bps to a two-month low of 6.87 per cent at Tuesday's auction when eight states drew down just Rs 12,100 crore. However, buying interest in metal, power and energy stocks helped benchmarks recover from intraday low levels. Traders found some support with provisional commerce ministry data showing that the country's exports rose by 50.45 per cent to $7.41 billion during August 1-7, on account of healthy growth in the shipments of engineering goods, gems and jewellery as well as petroleum products. Some optimism also came as Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the Government is taking effective measures to curb inflation especially food inflation keeping in view of the condition of the people suffering from coronavirus pandemic situation in the country. Market participants also took note of the finance ministry’s latest Monthly Economic Review stated that the economic impact of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be muted and there are visible signs of economic rejuvenation. It also said the recent sero-prevalence results signify that India can reduce the likelihood of severe illness due to COVID-19 if the country sustains the momentum of the vaccination programme. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 28.73 points or 0.05% to 54,525.93, while the CNX Nifty was up by 2.15 points or 0.01% to 16,282.25.

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