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Indian markets ended near-record closing high on Thursday boosted mainly by banking and financial stocks. Today, the start of session is likely to be positive following gains in global peers. Investors will be eyeing the manufacturing and Industrial production data for the month of April set to be released today post market hours. A fall in the number of Covid cases in the country likely to keep the sentiment on D-Street upbeat. Fresh daily cases remained below the 1 lakh mark for the fourth day straight as India reported 91,000 cases in the last 24 hours. The steady decline in cases is igniting hopes of the further reopening of the economy, providing support to market mood. Traders will be taking 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. He said huge growth has been seen in the export of cereals, non-basmati rice, wheat, millets, maize and other coarse grains. Some support will come as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will 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. Traders may take note of credit rating agency Icra Ratings’ report 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 per cent 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. Meanwhile, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will meet on June 12 to decide on extension of compensation cess beyond 2022 and tax exemption or reduction in rate on various Covid-related items including vaccines. There will be some reaction in power stocks with report that India’s struggling wind power industry is looking to its clean energy rival for help emerging from a pandemic-induced slump.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as economic data appeared to support the Federal Reserve’s assertion that the current wave of heightened inflation will be temporary. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Friday tracking a firm finish on Wall Street overnight.

Back home, the bulls made a comeback on the D-Street after two straight days of decline, with Sensex and Nifty settling above their crucial psychological levels of 52,300 and 15,700, respectively. The benchmarks opened in green and traded firmly higher for most part of the day, as traders took encouragement with Finance Ministry report stated that faster vaccine coverage and frontloading of fiscal measures announced in this year's budget would be the major factors in boosting the investment and consumption cycles and, in turn, reviving the economy, as economic activities have slowed down amid the second wave of Covid-19 and lockdowns across states. Besides, the Finance Ministry said it has released third monthly instalment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 9,871 crore to 17 states. With the release of this instalment, total Rs 29,613 crore has been released in the first three months of the current financial year as Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant to states. Benchmarks gained further momentum in second half of the session, taking support from the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in its monthly report stating that the economic impact of the second wave COVID-19 is likely to be restricted to the first quarter of 2022. As per the DEA, rapid vaccination of India's population and the frontloading of the fiscal measures are the key to invigorating investment and consumption. Traders overlooked International Zinc Association (IZA) stating that India loses around 5-7 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year due to corrosion. The association also stressed upon the need for immediate and appropriate measures by authorities to control further damage. Meanwhile, all-powerful GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on June 12 to decide on GST rate cut for COVID essentials and black fungus medicine. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 358.83 points or 0.69% to 52,300.47, while the CNX Nifty was up by 102.40 points or 0.65% to 15,737.75.

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