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Indian markets fell for a third consecutive day on Wednesday as the rout in technology stocks continued. Today, markets are likely to get flat-to-positive start amid mixed global cues. Local markets are now in a consolidation phase after a record nine-day winning run to April 13. Markets may remain volatile in today’s session due to the weekly F&O expiry of derivative contracts later in the day. There will be some cautiousness with private report that India's economy is likely to post a resilient 6% growth in FY24, easing slightly from 7% in FY23 because of softer global growth and higher interest rates. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments in the domestic markets. National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 13.17 crore on April 19. IT stocks would continue to remain in focus ahead of HCL Tech's Q4FY23 numbers due later in the day. There will be some buzz in the road sector stocks as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) put plans in place to maintain the pace of highway development and construct 12,500 km of highways in the current financial year. Sugar industry stocks will be in focus with private report that India’s sugar production next season will be enough to meet the local demand and the country will also be able to export some quantities of the sweetener, despite concerns about the emergence of the El Nino weather pattern. There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released data that showed the passengers carried by domestic airlines in India reported a 51.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in January-March 2023 period. The domestic airlines carried a total of 37.5 million passengers between January-March 2023 as compared to 24.7 million passengers during the corresponding period in the last year. Besides, stock-specific action amid March quarter results will continue to dominate the Street.

The US markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday following mixed corporate earnings from top companies including Netflix, Travelers and Morgan Stanley. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday following mix close on Wall street overnight.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday, marking their third straight day of losses due to selling in IT, TECK and Power shares. Markets made a cautious start as a result of deteriorating risk sentiment globally and growing investor anxiety about a probable recession. Traders remained cautious with a private report that deal activities declined 35 per cent to $9.7 billion across 332 transactions in the first quarter of 2023 due to an overall decline in deal activities as the fear of a global recession has gained more traction amid the continuing war on Ukraine. Of the total deals, M&As constituted more than half, still lower by 21 per cent at $4.4 billion involving 76 deals, down 56 per cent during the March quarter. Investors also remained anxious amid disappointing earnings from IT majors TCS and Infosys. However, markets managed to trim most of their losses in early afternoon deals, as traders found some solace with Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) stating that the healthy growth trend will continue and services exports are expected to reach up to $400 billion this fiscal, buoyed by a significant jump in exports during 2022-23. Some support also came with a private report stating that India last year got 20 per cent of the total private equity and venture capital (PE-VC) investments in the Asia Pacific, making the country a bright spot amid decelerating capital flow in the region. But, markets failed to hold recovery and fell sharply in late afternoon deals, as foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiments. National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 810.60 crore on April 18. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 159.21 points or 0.27% to 59,567.80 and the CNX Nifty was down by 41.40 points or 0.23% to 17,618.75.

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