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Indian markets ended lower on Thursday in line with weak global market trends. Today, markets are likely to get slightly positive start amid steady foreign flows and softened crude oil prices. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 618.37 crore on November 17. However, there may be some cautiousness as Moody's Investors Service said a combination of weak growth in advanced economies, persistent inflationary pressures, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, tight financial conditions, and a subdued growth outlook for China will create a difficult environment for emerging markets (EM) in 2023. As regards India, Moody's said food and fuel remain the main drivers of inflation because they represent a larger share of the consumption basket. For example, rising food prices have contributed to almost half of the growth in headline inflation this year in India. Traders may be concerned with a private report stating that taking binding commitments on new issues like environment, labour and sustainability in the proposed free trade agreements (FTA), being negotiated by India, may hamper the country's exports in the future. Tea industry stocks will be in limelight as Tea Board data showed that exports of tea from India increased by 14.8 per cent to 140.28 million kilograms in the first eight months of the 2022 calendar year. There will be some buzz in the sugar industry stocks as industry body ISMA said India has entered into a contract for export of about 35 lakh tonnes of sugar so far in the ongoing 2022-23 season, out of which 2,00,000 tonnes have been shipped last month. Banking stocks will be in focus as S&P Global Ratings said polarisation in the performance of Indian banks will persist as many large public sector banks are still saddled with weak assets, high credit costs, and poor earnings. There will be some reaction in edible oil industry stocks as industry body SEA said the country's export of oilmeal, used as animal feed, rose 38.45 per cent to 19.84 lakh tonnes during the April-October period of the current fiscal on sharp rise in shipment of rapeseed meal. Aviation industry stocks will be in watch as the civil aviation ministry decided to double the per-flight regional connectivity levy it collects from airlines to Rs 10,000 from January.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as hawkish comments from a US Federal Reserve official and data showing the labor market remained tight led some investors to worry about more aggressive interest rate hikes. Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Friday as Japan’s core consumer price index for October rose 3.6% compared to a year ago, higher than expected and at the fastest pace in 40 years.

Back home, After exhibiting lacklustre movement for a major part of the trading day on Thursday, Indian equity benchmarks weakened more in late trade to end near day’s low points, owing to selling pressure in Consumer Durables, Utilities and Auto stocks.  Markets made negative start and stayed in red for whole day as provisional data available on the NSE showed foreign institutional investors have net sold shares worth Rs 386.06 crore on November 16, 2022. Sentiments remained downbeat, as credit rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that as much as 43% of India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) universe by value is expected to remain below the pre-pandemic (fiscal 2020) level in terms of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin this fiscal (FY23) because of inability to completely pass on the high prices in some commodities as well as an unfavourable exchange rate. Traders paid no heed towards the commerce ministry's data showing that India's exports to the UAE, with which a free trade agreement was implemented on May 1, rose by 17.6 per cent to about $18 billion during April-October this fiscal. Market participants also overlooked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that despite challenges, the Indian banking sector has been resilient and improved in various performance parameters. At the same time though, he asked public as well as private sector banks to remain watchful of the evolving macroeconomic situation and take necessary mitigating measures to minimise their impact on balance sheets and contain financial stability risks. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India will be launching negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with a region next week. He said that negotiations are going on with countries, including the UK, European Union, Canada and Israel. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 230.12 points or 0.37% to 61,750.60 and the CNX Nifty was down by 65.75 points or 0.36% to 18,343.90.

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