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Indian markets ended a choppy session on Monday mildly higher, led by IT, oil & gas and select financial stocks. However, weakness in pharma and consumer shares limited the upside. Today, domestic markets are likely to begin session on a positive note, tracking gains across global markets. Investors will be eyeing quarterly GDP numbers to be released later today. India will release the quarterly GDP numbers for the July-September quarter. India is expected to report strong growth as the economy bounces back from the pandemic lows. Some support will come as India Ratings expects the economy to grow 8.3 per cent in Q2 and close the year with 9.4 per cent in FY'22, which is 10 bps lower than the consensus forecast. The agency has attributed the higher growth to the nine consecutive quarters of over 3 per cent agriculture growth, which has brightened consumer spending and the resultant uptick in private final consumption expenditure, which is likely to clip at around 10 per cent in the September quarter of the current fiscal. Additionally, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the net direct tax collection grew nearly 68 per cent during April 1 to November 23 to more than Rs 6.92 lakh crore. Besides, the commerce ministry has recommended continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese tiles, used for covering floors and walls in buildings, for five more years with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports. However, some cautiousness may prevailed in markets as Moody’s Analytics said the Omicron variant of COVID-19 adds new uncertainties to the global economic outlook but much will depend on its speed of transmission, hospitalisation and death rates, and also the effectiveness of vaccines. There will be some buzz in the insurance industry stocks as rating agency Icra said the life insurance industry has seen muted growth of 4 per cent in new business premiums (NBP) so far, it is expected to close the financial year (FY22) with 14 per cent growth in NBP, backed a pick-up in business in the second half of the fiscal. NBFCs stocks will be in focus as Crisil report stated that non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) may see an uptick in fragile assets covering non-performing loans, slippages due to revision of norms and from restructured book to 5-6 per cent of assets by March 2022. There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as the government said investments worth Rs 91,000 crore will be made for developing existing and new airports in different parts of the country, as several measures are being taken to boost the civil aviation sector. Meanwhile, Shares of Go Fashion will list today after the IPO received a strong response from investors. The IPO was oversubscribed by all categories of investors. Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health is set to launch an initial public offer (IPO) at 10 am to raise Rs 7,249 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Monday regaining some of the ground they lost in Friday's sell-off, as investors were hopeful that the Omicron coronavirus variant would not lead to lockdowns after reassurance from US President Joe Biden. Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday after the omicron variant of the coronavirus was found in more countries and governments imposed travel controls.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended choppy session marginally in green in tandem with a similar recovery in other markets as investors waited for more details to assess the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the world economy, allowing battered stock markets and oil prices to recover. The benchmarks staged a gap down opening, as traders remained cautious with report that as many as 438 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.34 lakh crore. Traders also took a note of Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian’s statement that BRICS nations need to strengthen cooperation among themselves for supporting the recovery of BRICS economies and maintaining macro-economic and financial stability while protecting against future uncertainties and risks. Meanwhile, Industry body -- The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has urged the GST Council to rationalise rates and stated that the current rates are not in sync with the demand creation and employment generation in the country. However, key indices soon recovered their losses and traded on positive note as traders got some support as eminent economist Pinaki Chakraborty said that India's macroeconomic situation is certainly better than what it was a year ago, while expressing hope that the country will be back on the path of economic growth if there is no major third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some support also came with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that bilateral trade between India and Canada stands at $10 billion currently and there is tremendous potential to take it to much higher levels. Goyal also said both sides have discussed the possibility of concluding the India-Canada comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), a kind of free trade pact, in two stages. Sentiments were also upbeat as foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have pumped in a net sum of Rs 5,319 crore in Indian capital markets despite a massive correction seen in equities. In October, they were net sellers to the tune of Rs 12,437 crore. However, the profit taking at higher levels capped the upside till the end. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 153.43 points or 0.27% to 57,260.58 and the CNX Nifty was up by 27.50 points or 0.16% to 17,053.95.

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