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Indian markets finished a volatile session in the red on Wednesday, dragged by IT and FMCG shares though gains in financial shares limited the downside. Today, markets are likely to open in red tracking weakness across global markets amid concerns that latest economic data might do nothing to push the Fed off track from its aggressive interest rate hiking cycle. Investors will also watch out for OPEC+ meeting today, to see if any likely ease in oil prices could come if the group decides to increase production than its previous levels. Traders will be concerned as the Ministry of Finance said the gross GST (Goods and Services Tax) revenue for the month of May crossed over Rs 1.40 lakh crore, a 16.6 per cent drop in comparison to April when GST collections were at a record high. There will be some cautiousness with a private report that even as the government is planning to put a leash on wasteful revenue spending to rein in fiscal deficit, it has decided against trimming the record budgetary capital expenditure target for FY23, betting big on its high multiplier effect to spur growth. The finance ministry has asked various infrastructure ministries to ensure they realise their capex goals and create durable assets. Meanwhile, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant has said that Aadhaar has become the bedrock for the government's welfare schemes and has saved over Rs 2 lakh crore to the government by eliminating fake and duplicate identities. There will be some buzz in the insurance industry stocks as in a bid to improve ease of doing business, regulator Irdai has allowed insurers to offer health and most of the general insurance products to customers without its prior approval. Aviation industry and hotel industry stocks will be in focus as Jet fuel prices were cut by 1.3 per cent -- the first reduction after 10 rounds of price hikes -- on softening international crude oil rates. Simultaneously, prices of commercial LPG - used by business establishments such as hotels and restaurants - were reduced by Rs 135 per 19-kg cylinder. There will be some reaction in FMCG industry stocks with a private report that the FMCG industry saw decline in volume in the January-March period as consumption was impacted by price increases, especially in the food and essentials categories. Railways stocks will be in limelight with report that fuelled by demand for coal and cement, the railways ferried 131.7 million tonnes (mt) of raw materials and goods in May, earning a revenue of Rs 14,113 crore. The revenue earned is 22 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year.

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday as investors bet that the latest economic data would do nothing to push the Federal Reserve off track from its aggressive interest rate hiking cycle aimed at taming run-away inflation. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Thursday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks traded volatile and ended lower for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, amid worsening geopolitical situation in Europe. Moreover, rising bond yields in the debt market also soured markets mood. Benchmark indices made a cautious start, as traders were concerned with the government data showed that India’s economic growth hit a four-quarter low of 4.1%, partly driven by base effect. The growth was 20.1%, 8.4%, and 5.4%, in the first, second and third quarters, respectively. However, markets entered green terrain in the late morning session, taking support from chief economic adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said the Indian economy is better placed than other countries and the fear of stagflation is exaggerated. Some support also came with government data showing that production growth of eight infrastructure sectors rose to a six-month high of 8.4 per cent in April on the back of better performance by coal, refinery products and electricity segments. Key gauges managed to trade in green in afternoon deals, as a monthly survey said that India's manufacturing sector growth steadied in May, with new orders and production increasing at similar rates to those registered in the previous month, while demand showed signs of resilience and improved further despite another uptick in selling prices. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 54.6 in May, little changed from 54.7 in April, pointing to a sustained recovery across the sector. But, after the initial uptick, the benchmark drifted gradually lower, amid reports that India's annual per capita income at constant prices remained below the pre-COVID level at Rs 91,481 in 2021-22. However, the per capita income based on Net National Income (NNI) at constant price grew by 7.5 per cent in FY22 over the previous year. Traders overlooked the Finance Ministry stating that GST revenues bucked the two-month rising trend in May and stood at nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore, registering a year-on-year increase of 44 percent. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 185.24 points or 0.33% to 55,381.17 and the CNX Nifty was down by 61.80 points or 0.37% to 16,522.75.