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Indian markets ended higher with gains of around 0.40% each on Tuesday propped up by robust fag-end buying in banking and energy stocks amid a positive trend in global equities. Today, markets are likely to get cautious start tracking weakness in Asian peers. Traders will be concerned as data released by the commerce ministry showed that India's merchandise trade deficit widened to $26.91 billion in October as exports crashed by 17 percent year-on-year to $29.78 billion while imports rose by 6 percent. The trade deficit stood at $17.91 billion in October 2021. Some cautiousness will come as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net offloaded shares worth Rs 221.32 crore on Tuesday, according to the provisional data available on the NSE. Besides, Moody’s gave a negative outlook to credit worthiness of countries globally for 2023, saying high prices of food and energy would curb economic growth and raise social tensions. However, some respite may come later in the day as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Nitin Gupta said direct tax collections are likely to be 25-30% more than the budget estimate (BE) of Rs 14.2 trillion for the current fiscal. There will be some buzz in the banking stocks as Crisil in a report said riding on a broad-based economic recovery and stronger, cleaner balance sheets, lenders are expected to see their credit growing at 15 per cent this fiscal and the next. Mineral industry stocks will be in focus as the mines ministry's report showed that the nation's mineral production increased by 4.6 per cent in September compared to the same month last year. There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as IATA executive said India is among the countries that has the largest potential to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which will be a key enabler for the global airlines industry in reducing emissions. Meanwhile, Medanta operator Global Health and FMCG major Bikaji Foods International will debut on the bourses today. The issue price for the two is fixed at Rs 336 per share and Rs 300 apiece, respectively.

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday as investors seized on softer-than-expected inflation data that raised hopes of a pullback in rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday amid reports that said Russian missile attacks killed two people in a Polish village near the Ukraine border.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended in green in a volatile trading session on Tuesday led by buying in Oil & Gas, Telecom and Auto stocks amid favorable global cues. Both the indices, Sensex and Nifty, had opened higher but soon pared gains and turned red even as the government data showed that retail inflation dropped to 6.77 per cent in October from 7.41 per cent in the preceding month, mainly due to easing prices in the food basket, though it remained above Reserve Bank's comfort level for the 10th month in a row. Some concern also came as Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the Centre is ready for bringing petrol and diesel under the GST regime but it is unlikely that the states will agree to such a move. Sentiments remained weak amid a private report stating that Indian businesses are likely to increase their spending on information technology slightly in 2023 amid the looming tensions on inflation and economic slowdown. India’s overall IT spending is projected to grow 2.6 per cent next year down from 22.1 per cent in 2021. However, markets reversed losses and inched higher in the last hour of trade tracking unabated foreign capital inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth Rs 1,089.41 crore on November 14, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Traders also found support with private report stating that India's retail inflation to track within the Reserve Bank of India's target band by March 2023. It expects inflation to moderate in FY24 as the effect of higher commodity prices wears off in YoY terms and supply chains continue to normalize. Further, as it expects a rise in capex in FY24, it expect this higher capacity to help cap further rise in core inflation pressures in FY25. Traders also took note of a World Bank’s report stating that India will need to invest $840 billion over the next 15 years to upgrade its urban infrastructure if it is to effectively meet the needs of its fast-growing population in cities. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 248.84 points or 0.40% to 61,872.99 and the CNX Nifty was up by 74.25 points or 0.41% to 18,403.40.

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