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Indian markets hit new record highs on Thursday, mirroring gains in global markets as investors looked past high core U.S. inflation number. Today, markets are likely to get flat-to-positive start following a slightly higher than expected inflation print, coupled with higher Index of Industrial Production reading. India’s inflation rose slightly to 3.65 percent in August compared with 3.6 percent in the previous month, as a favourable base from last year helped contain consumer inflation despite an uptick in food categories. India’s industrial output rose to 4.8 percent in July, compared with a 4.7 percent growth in the previous month, as manufacturing activity picked up post elections with investments gaining traction again. Some support will come as G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant stated that India will be driving 20 per cent of the world's economic growth in the next decade as it continues its march to become the third largest economy globally. He noted that India continues to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world and is the fifth-largest economy. Traders may take note of a research report by the State Bank of India (SBI) stating that India has demonstrated a largely successful inflation targeting regime compared to advanced economies such as the USA, Germany, and France. The report credits government initiatives, the RBI, and banks for addressing these issues over the past decade, allowing for better policy transmission and improved inflation management. However, some cautiousness may come amid jump in crude oil prices as investors wondered how much US output would be hindered by Hurricane Francine's impact on the Gulf of Mexico. Also, market participants looking ahead to the Fed's policy decision which will be taken next week. Further, investors will also analyse the rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB lowered its deposit rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 per cent, following up on a similar cut in June as inflation is now within striking distance of its 2 per cent target and the domestic economy is skirting a recession. On the sectoral front, steel stocks will be in focus as rating agency ICRA said domestic steel consumption is likely to witness 9-10 per cent growth this financial year. The demand for steel was robust in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year with consumption growing at a rate of 15 per cent on a year-on-year basis amidst competitively priced imports. There will be some reaction in edible oil industry stocks as the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said India's palm oil imports in August fell more than a quarter from a month ago, primarily driven by sufficient domestic stocks and negative margins that discouraged refiners from purchasing more of the tropical oil. As per the data, India's palm oil imports fell 26 per cent in August from July to 797,482 metric tons. Meanwhile, among main IPO, Western Carriers (India) IPO will open for subscription today. On NSE, BSE SME platform, Envirotech Systems IPO, Deccan Transcon Leasing IPO and Popular Foundations IPO will open for subscription today.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as market participants anticipated the Federal Reserve to cut 25 basis points rate in the next policy meeting after marginally more than expected producer price index (PPI) data. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

Back home, the bulls took charge towards the end of the day and lifted Indian equity benchmarks to record closing high levels, mirroring the bullish global trend. Indian markets began positively and consolidated during the first half, amid foreign fund inflows. As per NSE data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs 1,755 crore. Traders took support with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the Union government is implementing various schemes to encourage the growth and development of MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector across the country. She said these schemes include areas of credit support, formalization, technological assistance, infrastructure development, skill development and training and market assistance for the MSMEs. Some solace also came with the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri’s statement that India has a natural advantage in producing Green Hydrogen due to the low cost and abundance of solar energy and investments in the power grid. He added India is poised to lead the global green energy demand and the rising domestic demand across diverse sectors. Key indices witnessed a sudden jump during the last hour of the session and helped the indices to post a strong gain, fuelled by massive buying across sectors. Some optimism also came with a private report that private credit deployments are likely to surpass the $10 billion mark in 2024. The January-June period saw private credit transactions of over $6 billion in 96 deals, and the last two-and-a-half years have seen over $20 billion being deployed in the emerging alternative serving the credit needs of Indian companies. Meanwhile, investors are eyeing the release of India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for July and Consumer Price Index (CPI) or retail inflation data for August to be out later in the day. These data points will provide important cues for the market's trajectory, especially amid concerns about global economic headwinds. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1439.55 points or 1.77% to 82,962.71, and the CNX Nifty was up by 470.45 points or 1.89% to 25,388.90.

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