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Indian markets eked out modest gains in cautious trade on Wednesday. Today, markets are likely to get optimistic start on firm global cues as well as overnight fall in crude oil prices. Traders will be taking encouragement with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that vegetable rates may ease from September, led by tomato prices, which have started showing signs of correction on the back of increased supply. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth net Rs 614.32 crore on August 23. Some support will come as commerce minister Piyush Goyal said India is hopeful that trade and investment ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies set to meet in Jaipur will be able to strike a consensus on key areas of trade and investment, although differences persist over the Ukraine war. Traders may take note of report that India has created history by becoming the first country to land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole. The success of Chandrayaan-3 makes it only the fourth nation to achieve the milestone after the US, Russia, and China. The achievement by the Indian Space Research Agency was hailed across the world. The rover inside the lander has started moving on the lunar surface and begun scientific experiments. There will be some buzz in diamond industry stocks as Union minister Piyush Goyal reiterated lab-grown diamonds are the same as that natural ones and added the central government will now include those in Free Trade Agreement talks with other countries. Sugar stocks will be in focus with a private report that India is expected to ban mills from exporting sugar in the next season beginning October, halting shipments for the first time in seven years, as a lack of rain has cut cane yields. India's absence from the world market would be likely to increase benchmark prices in New York and London that are already trading around multi-year highs, triggering fears of further inflation on global food markets. There will be some reaction in coal, power and renewable energy industry stocks with a report that India has set the target of having 500GW of renewable energy by 2030. Coal-based power generation, however, ensures stable operation of the electricity transmission grid.

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday as fall in treasury yields aided sentiment. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as upbeat earnings from Nvidia.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended in green on Wednesday, backed by renewed buying interest in Banking, Capital Goods and Metal stocks. After making a cautious start, key gauges traded marginally lower as provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 495.17 crore on August 22. Some cautiousness also came as Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Chairman Bibek Debroy said the government was losing revenue due to the GST, which should be revenue neutral with a single rate. Adding to the pessimism, a private report said that the banking system's liquidity slipped into deficit for the first time in the current financial year (2023-24) due to the imposition of the Incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (I-CRR) for banks and outflows from goods and services tax (GST) payments. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows it injected Rs 23,644 crore on August 21. However, markets turned upwards in late morning deals in line with the trend in other global indices. Traders took support with Icra Ratings’ statement that India’s economic growth will accelerate to 8.5% in the April-June period of the current fiscal from the 6.1% growth rate witnessed in the preceding January-March quarter. The rating agency attributed the faster growth to a supportive base and also a recovery in the services sector. Some optimism also came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business in the country has improved through reforms undertaken by the government. Sentiments remained up-beat in late afternoon deals, taking support from reports that mutual cooperation and trust are the key pillars that will thrust the BRICS group of countries as well as the global south towards development and economic growth. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 213.27 points or 0.33% to 65,433.30 and the CNX Nifty was up by 47.55 points or 0.25% to 19,444.00.

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