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Indian markets ended at record closing highs on Friday led by IT, metal and pharma stocks, as more states eased pandemic restrictions. Today, the start of new week is likely to be pessimistic amid muted cues from global markets. Investors will be eyeing the both the CPI and WPI inflation for the month of May to be released later in the day. There will be some cautiousness as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, at its single-agenda meeting, decided to retain the GST on Covid-19 vaccines at 5 per cent. However, it temporarily slashed the tax rates on most supplies and also exempted drugs for treating the black fungus. Though, fall in coronavirus cases may support the sentiments in the markets. India, witnessing a downward trend in Covid cases, reported the lowest daily spike in infections since March 31 with 67,290 new cases in the last 24 hours. India has so far logged over 29,506,328 cases of coronavirus. Some support may also come as overseas investors pumped in a net Rs 13,424 crore so far in June as risk-on sentiment improved with declining Covid-19 cases and hopes of early opening of economy. Depositories data showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) invested Rs 15,520 crore in equities during June 1-11. Besides, the government data showing that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 126.6 points in April this year. The IIP was at 54 points in April 2020 and 126.5 points in April 2019. As per the partial data, IIP growth works out to be 134 per cent in April 2021 over the same month last year, mainly due to the low base effect. Traders may take note of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that it will not be business as usual after the COVID-19 pandemic and we need to bring more simplicity in the ease of doing business by doing away with the current maze of rules. There will be some buzz in  housing finance companies stocks with report that home loans sanctioned by finance companies, including housing finance firms, grew 76 per cent to Rs 79,043 crore in the quarter ended March 2021 over Rs 44,907 crore in Q4FY20. There will be some reaction in broadcasting and cable sector stocks as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released an amendment to interconnection regulations of 2017 which provides for a framework for technical compliance of conditional access system (CAS) and subscriber management system (SMS) for the broadcasting and cable sector. Meanwhile, the IPO market is getting back on track after a lull of two months, with four companies launching their initial share-sales to raise Rs 9,123 crore collectively. Separately, BSE and NSE will suspend trading in the shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) with effect from Monday.

The US markets ended higher on Friday led by gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Consumer Goods sectors. Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday with multiple major markets in the region are closed for holidays.

Back home, in a volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks ended at record closing highs on Friday, amid a largely positive trend in global equities. The markets, after opening on a positive note, rallied through the first half, led by heavyweights. Traders took encouragement with Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan’s statement that India's export of agricultural and allied products in 2020-21 grew by 17.34 per cent to $41.25 billion, and this growth momentum is expected to be sustained in the current fiscal as well. Some optimism also came with credit rating agency Icra Ratings’ report stated that with decline in number of fresh COVID-19 cases and easing of restrictions, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 8.5 percent in FY2021-22. It expects the gross value added (GVA) at basic prices (at constant 2011-12 prices) to grow at 7.3 per cent in FY2022. It also said if vaccine coverage is accelerated following the re-centralised procurement policy, the GDP expansion in FY2022 may be as high as 9.5 percent, with a widening upside in Q3 and Q4 of FY2022. Indices, however, lost momentum during the later hours of the day, dragged by financials. Some cautiousness remained among traders with US think-tank has observed that India's domestic challenges due to COVID-19 crisis have become a threat to its regional and global ambitions. It warned that unless it recovers with the help of allies like the United States, the pandemic could impact the geopolitical balance in the Indo-Pacific. But, key gauges managed to end session in green, taking support from report that the arrival of monsoon in the country ahead of the schedule is going to boost agricultural production in the country and is expected to add to turnaround in the economy. Monsoon has arrived into parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and remaining areas of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh six days ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it would be buying bonds maturing between 2026 and 2035 in its third tranche of the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP). The total size of the G-SAP programme would be Rs 40,000 crore, including Rs 10,000 crore of state development loans. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 174.29 points or 0.33% to 52,474.76, while the CNX Nifty was up by 61.60 points or 0.39% to 15,799.35.a

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