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Indian markets recovered from an early slide and ended modestly higher on Wednesday following last-hour gains. Today, start of the session is likely to be in green with marginal gains taking lead from mostly positive cues from the US markets overnight. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. On Wednesday, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought 1833.13 crore in equity segment. Some support will come as Industry body PHDCCI said enhanced competitiveness of the Indian economy will attract more investments and create new employment opportunities for the growing young population in the country. Traders may take note of report that Union MSME minister Narayan Rane has urged the global and domestic industries to continue to invest in India, which is on its path to become the third largest economy. Besides, Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu has emphasised that India’s resources have to be efficiently utilised for the country to become a fully developed nation. Meanwhile, the government has extended the deadline to May 31 for Goods Transport Agencies to exercise the option of paying GST on forward charge basis for current fiscal. Under GST, Goods Transport Agencies have the option to collect and pay GST on forward charge basis. If they do not opt to do so, the liability to pay the tax gets transferred to the recipient of the service, under reverse charge mechanism. Agriculture related stocks will be in focus with report that wheat procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government agencies for the current season has crossed 25.2 million tonne (MT) so far, up by 30% on year. there will be some reaction in sugar industry stocks with a private report that sugar production in the 2022-23 season that started from October is now expected to be around 9 per cent less than last season due to a drop in recovery and cane output particularly in Maharashtra, which is one of the biggest growing states. Investors await more of financial results from India Inc for domestic cues, with Asian Paints, Eicher Motors, Deepak Nitrite, GSPL, Siemens and Dr Lal Pathlabs due to post their earnings later in the day.

The US markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday as data showed consumer inflation fell below 5 percent for the first time in two years. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Thursday amid data showing China's consumer price inflation eased further in April and producer prices remained in deflation.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks experienced significant volatility throughout the day but finally ended with gains on Wednesday led by index heavyweights Indusind Bank, Power Grid Corporation and Bajaj Finance. Markets made a positive start but soon wiped out gains and traded with negative bias, as traders restrained from taking any long position ahead of upcoming macro-economic data. Some concern came as Automobile dealers' body the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) raised the issue of unauthorised multi-brand outlets (MBOs) in the two-wheeler industry, which are not certified as bona fide dealers and sell unregistered vehicles without any trade certificates or after-sales services. This has caused many legitimate two-wheeler dealerships to shut down, making their businesses unviable. Despite volatility in afternoon, key gauges remained positive for the most part of the session, taking support from a report that the free trade agreement between India and the UAE has transformed the partnership between the two countries by promoting two-way commerce at a healthy rate. Sentiments were positive, amid a report by industry body FISME stating that steps such as increasing awareness, easier documentation, simplified customs processes and standard operating practice for product returns would help in promoting the country's exports through e-commerce medium. Markets added some gains in late afternoon deals, as traders found some solace with a private report that India's consumer inflation likely cooled to an 18-month low in April as rises in food and fuel prices moderated, keeping it below the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance limit for the second consecutive month. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 178.87 points or 0.29% to 61,940.20 and the CNX Nifty was up by 49.15 points or 0.27% to 18,315.10.