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Indian markets ended marginally higher on Thursday amid volatility faced during the last minutes of trading hours as concerns over rising inflation and fears of monetary tightening worldwide hit the sentiment. Today, markets are likely to get negative start tracking lackluster global cues. Though, foreign fund inflows likely to support domestic sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,570.62 crore on February 16, NSE's provisional data showed. Some support may come with a private report that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 6.2 per cent in FY24 as drivers of domestic demand remain intact amid fears of an impending slowdown. Traders may take note of economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) report that the country's merchandise exports have recorded a healthy growth in both value and volume terms in 2022. The outbound shipments rose by 14.6 per cent year-on-year to $453.3 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, the GST Council in its meeting on February 18 is likely to discuss setting up appellate tribunals and mechanism to curb tax evasion in pan masala and gutkha business. There will be some reaction in power stocks with a private report that India will blacklist renewable power companies for three-to-five years if they do not meet project completion deadlines. Jewelry industry stocks will be focus with a private report that India's January gold imports plunged 76% from a year earlier to a 32-month low on subdued demand after domestic prices rallied to record highs and as jewellers postponed purchases, hoping for a reduction in import duty. There will be some buzz in the steel stocks as steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that large scale augmentation would be done to double steel production from the existing 150 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030. Telecom stocks will be in limelight as telecom regulator TRAI said in its monthly subscriber report said Telecom subscriber base rose marginally to 1,170.38 million in December 2022 on account of an increase in fixed line connections. Meanwhile, Adani Group stocks would be in focus after executives unveiled plans to refinance two dollar bonds and prepay share pledges.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as wholesale inflation data fuelled rate hike concerns. Asian markets are trading mixed on Friday following a sell-off on Wall Street overnight.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their initial gains and ended on a flat note amid late volatility owing to the weekly Nifty F&O expiry on Thursday. Markets made optimistic start tracking positive cues from Wall Street after strong US retail sales data signalled strength in the world's biggest economy. Increased buying by foreign institutional investors also supported the markets. Foreign institutional investors extended their buying streak in Indian equities for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday. Over the past four sessions, FIIs have bought a net Rs 4,517 crore worth of equities. Sentiments remained positive with Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the effort of the government over the years has been to increase public expenditure with a view to promote growth. She said that the government in the 2023-24 budget increased the capital expenditure by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore. However, markets wiped out most of their gains and touched a low towards the fag end amid volatility faced during the last minutes of trading hours. Traders were anxious with the commerce ministry in its latest data showing that contracting for the second month in a row, India's Merchandise exports dipped by 6.58 per cent to $32.91 billion in January 2023 as against $ 35.23 billion in the same month last year due to slowdown in global demand, even as the trade deficit touched a 12-month low of $17.75 billion during the month. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 44.42 points or 0.07% to 61,319.51 and the CNX Nifty was up by 20.00 points or 0.11% to 18,035.85.

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