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Buying in last leg of trade helped Indian equity markets to end higher on Friday. Today, markets are likely to make positive start on firm global cues. Traders may get some support as the former Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya has said India may log a growth rate of eight per cent of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in FY23.  Traders may take not of report that US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen will visit India to participate in the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership on November 11 and discuss how the two countries can work together to deepen their economic ties. Meanwhile, Union Minister Piyush Goyal has directed officials to fastrack the clearance of patents filed by government-related bodies in a time-bound manner. However, some cautiousness may prevail later in the day as chief economic adviser -- V Anantha Nageswaran has said the country’s external sector could face some anxious moments this financial year, as the proposed oil price cap on global crude could instead serve to raise those instead. The way the oil price cap is being discussed has encouraged oil and gas traders to stock up on volumes, creating unintended consequences. This could create additional pressure on India’s balance of payments. Besides, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said indiscriminate borrowing and spending by certain States on non-merit goods and expenditure is a matter of concern, and fiscal strength is a critical component for Atma Nirbhar Bharat. She stated the temptation to borrow beyond capacity would create inter-generational burden and affect fiscal soundness of the country.  There will be some buzz in sugar related stocks as the government, which has allowed export of six million tonnes of sugar till May 31 of the ongoing 2022-23 season, said that it might allow more export after periodic assessment of domestic production. The quarterly earnings season enters its last leg this week with prominent companies like Coal India, Life Insurance Corporation of India, One97 Communications Tata Motors and Zomato likely to unveil their financial results during the week.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on Monday as investors digest the latest US jobs report and look ahead to the midterm elections. The US markets ended higher on Friday reclaiming positive territory in a volatile trading session.

Back home, in the volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks managed to end in green on Friday, helped by continuous buying from foreign institutional investors and a largely positive trend in Asian and European markets. Indian equities made a cautious start and remained volatile for whole day as traders were worried after Bank of England raised interest rates to 3% on Thursday from 2.25%, its biggest rate rise since 1989 as it warned of a “very challenging” outlook for the economy. The central bank forecasts inflation will hit a 40-year high of around 11% during the current quarter, but that Britain has already entered a recession that could potentially last two years - longer than during the 2008-09 financial crisis. However, fag-end buying helped the markets to end higher. Traders got support as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India offers policy stability, transparency and consultative process of governance to incubate investment. Some support also come in as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said loans worth Rs 20 lakh crore have been disbursed so far under the Centre’s MUDRA scheme to provide self-employment opportunities to the youth, and added that Maharashtra was one of its major beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank's rate setting panel met on Thursday to discuss and draft a report for the government on why it failed to keep retail inflation below the target of 6 per cent for three consecutive quarters since January this year. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 113.95 points or 0.19% to 60,950.36 and the CNX Nifty was up by 64.45 points or 0.36% to 18,117.15.

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