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Indian markets snapped four-day winning streak on Wednesday on weak global cues after weak Chinese data made investors worried about global growth. Today, benchmark indices are likely to get cautious start amid mixed cues from global counterparts and mixed economic data from domestic front. There will be some volatility in the markets ahead of weekly F&O expiry. Investors will be eyeing the manufacturing PMI data to be out later in the day for more cues. There will be some cautiousness as the government data showed that the production growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a six-month low of 3.5 per cent in April 2023 due to a decline in the output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and electricity. However, traders may get some encouragement reacting to the passage of debt ceiling bill by the U.S. House of Representatives and domestic economic data released after market hours the previous day. Some respite may come as India’s economic growth shot up by 6.1 per cent in the March quarter of FY23, beating street’s expectations, as the expansion in manufacturing and construction surprised on the upside, reflecting sustained strength in domestic demand amid a gloomy global outlook. Besides, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said the momentum is expected to continue in the current fiscal year (FY24) with solid growth prospects, on the back of higher-than-expected economic growth in FY23. Some support will come as the Centre’s fiscal deficit narrowed to 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23 from 6.71 per cent in FY22, as anticipated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget in February this year. In the Union Budget, the government aimed to further bring down the fiscal deficit - a key indicator of borrowing - during the current financial year 2023-24 to 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Meanwhile, the Centre has said it received Rs 1,70,501 crore in revenue for April 2023, comprising Rs 1,58,901 crore in taxes, Rs 10,958 crore of non-tax income and Rs 642 crore of non-debt capital receipts. Adani Group stocks will be in focus today amid fund raising reports. Auto sector stocks will be in limelight reacting to their monthly sales numbers. 

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday as investors awaited a crucial vote on a bipartisan deal to suspend the government debt ceiling and set federal funding limits. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Thursday as investors react to regional factory activity data for May. A private survey showed China's factory activity unexpectedly swung to growth from a decline in April.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks snapped their four-day gaining streak to close lower by over half a per cent on Wednesday due to profit-taking in Energy, Metal and Oil & Gas stocks amid weak trends in global markets. After the initial down-tick, markets traded with a negative bias throughout the session as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of key Q4 GDP growth data to be out later in the day. Traders were worried amid a private report which flagged concerns regarding the achievement of the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for the financial year 2023-2024. Sentiments remained weak as Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh stated that hardening interest rates globally and worsening geo-political situation have impacted the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India in 2022-23. Key gauges extended their fall in afternoon deals, as traders got anxious with Reserve Bank of India data report showing that the number of frauds in the banking sector went up to 13,530 in 2022-23 year-on-year, but the amount involved nearly halved at Rs 30,252 crore. However, markets managed to trim some of their losses in late afternoon deals, as traders took some solace with data showing that investment in the Indian capital markets through participatory notes has seen an upward trend in the past two months, with the number reaching Rs 95,911 crore in April-end, primarily driven by the country's robust economic growth. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to introduce various policy measures in 2023-24 like the guidelines for expected credit loss-based provisioning. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 346.89 points or 0.55% to 62,622.24 and the CNX Nifty was down by 99.45 points or 0.53% to 18,534.40.

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