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Indian markets ended higher on Thursday amid a broad-based rally, as the Fed's first rate hike in more than three years and upbeat commentary on the world's largest economy boosted global shares. Markets remained closed on Friday due to Holi. Today, the markets are likely to get positive start following gains in global markets. Investors continue to watch out for the developments of the Russia Ukraine conflict and the ongoing negotiations between the two. Traders will be taking encouragement with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India's merchandise exports have reached almost $390 billion as of March 14 and will cross $400 billion in the current financial year. Some support will come as India's collection from tax on personal and corporate income jumped over 48 per cent in the current fiscal after a 41 per cent surge in advance tax payments, mirroring sustained economic recovery in a year that witnessed two waves of coronavirus infections. Meanwhile, the government is working on classification of cryptocurrency as goods or services under the GST law, so that tax can be levied on the entire value of transactions. Currently, 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied only on service provided by crypto exchanges and is categorised as financial services. However, some cautiousness may come as according to the latest data from the RBI, the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined $9.646 billion to $622.275 billion in the week ended March 11. There will be some buzz in the sugar industry stocks as industry body ISMA said sugar exports have jumped over 2.5 fold between October 2021 and February this year to 47 lakh tonnes on higher production and better demand of the Indian sweetener in the global market. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. FMCG stocks will be in focus as the Fast Moving Consumer Group companies are mulling another round of price hike to offset the impact of an unprecedented level of inflation in commodity prices such as wheat, palm oil and packaging materials.  There will be some reaction in gold related stocks as World Gold Council said India's gold mine production stood at a mere 1.6 tonnes in 2020 but could rise to 20 tonnes per year in the long-term. Besides, the commerce ministry has recommended the continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese aluminium foil, used in food and pharma sectors, for five years to guard domestic players from cheap imports.

The US markets ended higher on Friday as investors digested Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine war. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday as investors clung to hopes for an eventual peace deal in Ukraine, but the fighting raged on with no sign of stopping.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks held on to strong gains throughout the session and ended with gains of around two percent on Thursday amid a broad-based rally, as the Fed's first rate hike in more than three years and upbeat commentary on the world's largest economy boosted global shares. In line with the previous session, the benchmark opened gap-up, as sentiments got a boost with a private report stating that private equity and venture capital investments for the month of February 2022 were about $5.8 billion, 2.3 times the value recorded in February 2021 ($2.5 billion) and 24 per cent higher than investments in January 2022 ($4.6 billion). Sentiments remained upbeat with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel’s statement that the bilateral trade in goods is projected to increase from the current $60 billion to $100 billion annually within five years of the implementation of the India-UAE free trade agreement. Some solace also came in as the income tax department said income tax refunds worth over Rs 1.92 lakh crore have been issued to more than 2.24 crore taxpayers so far this fiscal. Buying further crept in as commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India's merchandise exports have reached almost $390 billion as of March 14 and will cross $400 billion in the current financial year. Besides, exchange data showed foreign institutional investors turned net buyers after their recent selling spree, picking up shares worth Rs 311.99 crore on Wednesday. Market participants paid no heed towards Credit rating agency, Moody's Investors Service in its ‘Global Macro Outlook 2022-23 (March 2022 Update)’ has lowered India's growth estimate by 0.4 percentage point for the current year to 9.1 per cent, from 9.5 per cent earlier, as the agency is expecting high fuel and potentially fertilizer costs would weigh on government finances down the road, potentially limiting planned capital spending. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has recommended the continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese aluminium foil, used in food and pharma sectors, for five years to guard domestic players from cheap imports. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1047.28 points or 1.84% to 57,863.93 and the CNX Nifty was up by 311.70 points or 1.84% to 17,287.05.

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