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Indian markets recovered from early losses and ended higher on Wednesday as stable rupee and falling oil prices offered some support. Today, domestic indices are likely to get flat-to-negative start amid subdued global cues, along with March quarter earnings season to guide markets. Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, LTIMindtree, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Holdings, Shriram Finance, Trent, Indian Hotels Company, ACC, among others will share results. Trading may turn volatile later in the day due to the expiry of April month derivative contracts. However, foreign fund inflows on April 26, according to the provisional data available on the NSE. Traders may take note of report that India’s consumer affairs department and a German ministry signed an agreement on improve quality infrastructure. The technical dialogues of the working group address key areas of economic cooperation between the two countries. Meanwhile, the Centre gave its nod to the National Medical Devices Policy 2023 with an aim to achieve 10-12 per cent share in the growing global market over the next 25 years. Sugar industry stocks will be in focus with report that Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has not only lowered the country's sugar production estimate to 32.8 million tonnes in the current marketing year that will end in September from the earlier projected 34 million tonnes but at the same time it now expects 4 million tonnes of sugar to get diverted towards ethanol as against the earlier estimated 4.5 million tonnes. There will be some reaction in IT industry stocks as a report by Nasscom stated that India has witnessed a significant increase in patent filings in FY2022, with a growth of 13.6 per cent year on year – the highest annual increase in the last decade. In the primary markets, the Rs 4,326-crore IPO of Mankind Pharma will close for subscription later today.

The US markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday as banking fears eclipsed Big Tech earnings on Wall Street. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Thursday as investors focused on the Bank of Japan's first policy meeting led by new BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains for the third straight session on Wednesday amid buying in index major Power Grid Corporation, Indusind Bank and Nestle India. Indian markets opened lower, as rising recession fears in the United States offset cautious optimism in domestic markets in a busy earnings week. Some cautiousness came in as the finance ministry in its Monthly Economic Review for March said that India’s economy continues to be robust, but downside risks such as rising crude oil prices, adverse weather conditions, and the global banking crisis outweigh the upside potential in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current financial year (FY24). Some anxiety also came with provisional data from National Stock Exchange showing that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 407.35 crore on April 25. However, markets soon erased losses and managed to trade in green in late morning deals as traders took some support with Deepak Sood, Secretary General at ASSOCHAM stating that private investment is picking up in sectors like infrastructure, green energy and electronics. He also said quicker execution of the projects in the railways, ports, airports and highways, as was witnessed in 2022-23, would make a difference in creating a positive spiral for the private investment to crowd in. Benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon deals as positive Q4 results led to broad-based gains across sectors. Sentiments remained positive as the Finance Ministry in its monthly economic review said that India’s banking system is strong enough to survive stress caused by interest rates increasing and it will continue aiding economic growth. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 169.87 points or 0.28% to 60,300.58 and the CNX Nifty was up by 44.35 points or 0.25% to 17,813.60.

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