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Indian markets ended at fresh record high on Thursday led by buying across the sectors and positive global markets. Today, markets are likely to get positive start following overnight gains on Wall Street. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. As per NSE data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs 629.96 crore. Sentiments will get boost as a finance ministry report said India is set to achieve 6.5-7 per cent GDP growth in the current financial year as indicated by the movements in high-frequency indicators till August. The recent developments analysed indicate strong foundations of macroeconomic stability in India with steady growth, investment, employment and inflation trends, a strong and stable financial sector and a resilient external account, including a comfortable foreign exchange reserve position. Some support will come as expecting less worries for countrymen, the Finance Ministry said the outlook for inflation trajectory remained positive on the backs of good monsoon and healthy sowing progress of Kharif crops. Traders may take note of former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that India has done well in areas like infrastructure in the last 10 years, but it also needs to do more in other sectors to boost local manufacturing and job creation. Rajan further said the government's focus on production, whether it is goods or services is a good thing, but it is also important to do it the right way. IT stocks will be in focus after Accenture raising its revenue guidance for FY25 to 3-6 per cent, exceeding its previous guidance. There will be some buzz in sugar stocks as Food Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government is considering increasing the ethanol price for 2024-25 season as well as minimum selling price of sugar. Joshi said the proposal on hiking the ethanol price is under consideration of the government. Tyre company’s stocks will be in focus as CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics report said that inflated natural rubber prices which are way above the trend in the past decade could impact the profitability of tyre manufacturers. It said Tyre makers are headed for a rough patch as the price of natural rubber has surged more than 33 per cent on-year in just the first five months of this fiscal amid strong demand and crunched supply, which could strain profitability. There will be some reaction in pharma and medical devices stocks as Arunish Chawla, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), said India is set to add 50 new greenfield pharma manufacturing plants in the next two years under the Production-linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for pharma and medical devices. Banking stocks will be in limelight as CareEdge Ratings said net Non-Performing Assets (NNPAs) of scheduled commercial banks (SCB) saw a sharp decline, reducing by 24.9 per cent y-o-y to Rs 1 lakh crore as of June 30, 2024.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as Micron Technology shares rallied and a strong U.S. jobless claims report eased labor market concerns. Asian markets are trading mixed on Friday as Tokyo's core consumer price index (CPI) data for September, Japan's Foreign Bond investment for September, and China's industrial profits for August will be on investors' radar.

Back home, the bulls further tightened the grip over the Dalal Street on Thursday as Indian equity benchmarks climbed to fresh record closing highs led by buying across the sectors and positive global markets amid monthly F&O expiry. The markets started on a flat note, but picked up the pace as the day progressed to hit fresh milestones. Traders took encouragement as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in its Interim Economic Outlook stated that Indian economy will likely log faster growth at 6.7 percent in FY25 compared with 6.6 percent projected earlier. Some support also came as data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that formal job creation picked up for the first four months of the FY25. New subscriptions to all three social security schemes were higher for the first four months, as there was a further pickup in job creation. Key gauges extended their gains in late afternoon deals and settled near day’s high levels, as sentiments remained up-beat with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia’s statement that the government is looking at a target of $100 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows per annum in the coming years, in line with India’s thrust towards the Make in India programme. Sentiments remained optimistic with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India's external debt-to-GDP ratio at 18.7%, its debt service ratio at 6.7% and foreign exchange reserves-to-external debt ratio at 97.4% are within the comfort zone and way better than many middle-income countries. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 666.25 points or 0.78% to 85,836.12, and the CNX Nifty was up by 211.90 points or 0.81% to 26,216.05.

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