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Indian markets ended volatility trade in green terrain on Wednesday amid subdued cues from global peers after the US FOMC minutes. Today, domestic markets are likely to get cautious start amid mixed global cues and the weekly F&O expiry. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments. According to provisional data from NSE, foreign institutional investors net sold shares worth Rs 306.56 crore on Wednesday. There may be some cautiousness after the latest payroll data released by the EPFO showed that reflecting a slowdown in the pace of formal job creation, new subscribers added by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) declined by 10.1 per cent to 5.86 million in the first half (April-September) of FY24, from 6.52 million during the same period last year. Traders may take note of Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the rupee has witnessed low volatility and orderly movements as compared to its peers. Das said household inflation expectations are becoming more anchored, but added that headline inflation is vulnerable to recurring and overlapping food price shocks. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the proposed free trade agreements with the European Union and four-nation EFTA group are doable, but they should keep in mind India's concerns as the level of economic development is different. There will be some reaction in NBFCs stocks as CRISIL Ratings said that assets under management (AUM) of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are set to log a 14-17 percent growth next fiscal (FY24-25) on the back of continued strong credit demand across retail loan segments.

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday on hopes that the Fed may be done with rate hikes after data suggested that the economy is easing but may stay strong enough to avoid recession. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday in a range-bound session with Japanese markets closed for a holiday.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks eked out marginal gains to settle in the positive zone after a highly volatile trade on Wednesday, helped by buying in Power, Auto and Healthcare stocks. After making a cautious start, key gauges managed to keep their heads above water, as traders took support with report that the Ministry of Finance (FinMin) is expecting to conclude the full financial year as projected with a strong growth performance and macroeconomic stability even as it flagged risks of demand taking a hit on fuller transmission of monetary policy, high inflation, uncertain external financial flows. India has projected a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5 per cent for FY24. However, markets erased gains and traded lower in afternoon deals, amid unabated foreign fund outflows from the equity markets. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign institutional investors net offloaded shares worth Rs 455.59 crore on November 21. Sentiments were pessimistic amid a private report stating that investments by Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) funds have declined to $3.4 billion for October. By value, the bets were 3 per cent lower than $3.5 billion in the year-ago period, and 19 per cent lower than $4.2 billion in September.  Some concern came as the government data showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows in India declined 24 per cent to $20.48 billion in April-September 2023, dragged by lower inflows in computer hardware and software, telecom, auto and pharma. FDI inflows stood at $26.91 billion during the first six months of the last fiscal. But, selling proved short-lived as key indices once again entered into green terrain in final hour of trade as some optimism remained among traders with research firm ICRA’s report stating that the Indian economy is likely to have grown 7 percent in the second quarter of the current financial year (Q2FY24), higher than the RBI's projections on the back of robust investment activities. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 92.47 points or 0.14% to 66,023.24 and the CNX Nifty was up by 28.45 points or 0.14% to 19,811.85.

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