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Indian markets ended choppy session in green terrain with marginal gains on Wednesday tracking mixed global cues. Today, markets are likely to get flat-to-positive start as crude oil prices softened. Mostly positive cues from global markets may also support domestic markets. Investors looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day after he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy in opening remarks at the U.S. central bank statistics conference on Wednesday. Traders will be taking encouragement as S&P researchers said the Indian government will likely stick close to its fiscal deficit target and the consolidation path till fiscal year 2026, despite the extension of the free foodgrain scheme announcement and the possibility of more such expenditure initiatives as India heads towards general elections next year. Some support will come with a private report that India’s government is likely to exceed its tax revenue projections this year, giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi more fiscal room to spend on wooing rural voters ahead of elections. Traders may take note of report that the market regulator is making it easier for investors to access any amount that is due to them but that may have gone unclaimed because of various reasons. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has released three frameworks for dealing with unclaimed amounts lying with listed companies who have issued non-convertible securities, with Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and with Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). They were released through three separate circulars issued on November 8.  However, there will be some volatility in the markets ahead of weekly F&O expiry later in in the day. Foreign fund outflows may dent sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 84.55 crore on November 8. Jewelers stocks likely to remain in focus during this festive season amid expectations of strong demand on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras. Investors will be eyeing earnings from Indain Inc for more cues. Adani Ports, Apollo Hospitals, Bosch, Muthoot Finance, Zee Entertainment, Ashok Leyland, Torrent Power, Piramal Enterprises, CarTrade Tech, and Globus Spirits among others to report numbers later in the day.

The US markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves following the recent strength in the markets. Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday amid China's October CPI fell 0.2 percent year on year and PPI dropped 2.6 percent.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks managed to end marginally higher in lackluster trade on Wednesday backed by gains in Realty and Oil & Gas stocks amid falling crude oil prices. After the flat start, key gauges oscillated in a narrow range till the end as foreign fund outflows dented sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth net Rs 497.21 crore on November 7, 2023. Some concern also came with credit rating agency ICRA stating that new investment demand in the second half of this fiscal year is likely to be tempered amid increased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and a potential slowdown in the momentum of government capital expenditure (capex) and project execution prior to the general elections. However, markets managed to end the session in green as traders took some support with Crisil Ratings stating that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, confined mainly to the Gaza region now, has caused only negligible disruption in India's trade so far, and added that the Indian companies were not in the crosshairs for now. Traders took a note of Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the finance ministry's focus is not only on increasing GST revenue but also on bringing all the business establishments under its ambit. Meanwhile, the Centre has authorised release of tax devolution of Rs 72,961.21 crore to states for November. This will enable the state governments to make in-time releases and add to the festivities and celebrations among the people. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 33.21 points or 0.05% to 64,975.61 and the CNX Nifty was up by 36.80 points or 0.19% to 19,443.50.

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