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Indian markets ended Thursday’s trading session in negative territory amid the weekly expiry and profit booking. Today, markets are likely to get weak start following pessimism in global peers, ahead of the crucial Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on December 17 and 18. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling as they sold equities worth Rs 3,560 crore on December 12. However, the lower November month retail inflation print, and higher index of industrial production reading for October may provide some support to the markets. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation slowed to 5.48 per cent in November from a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October, indicating persistent price pressures across sectors. Besides, India’s industrial output rose to 3.5 per cent in October from 3.1 per cent in September, driven largely by a rebound in the manufacturing and electricity sectors. Some support may come as V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India said India is on track to achieve its projected economic growth of 6.5-7 per cent in the current fiscal year. Some more optimism may come as Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission said India’s economy is on track to surpass the $7 trillion mark by 2030 even under the conservative growth estimates. Traders may take note of report that FICCI President Harsha Vardhan Agarwal termed the 5.4 per cent GDP growth in the second quarter as a temporary phenomena and expects India to achieve 6.5-7 per cent economic growth in the current financial year, while projecting a pick up in private investment. Besides, Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Thursday expressed confidence that India's economic growth will be back on track by the end of this fiscal despite global uncertainties. Metal stocks will be in focus as ICRA said capacity utilisation of domestic steel industry in 2024-25 is poised to slip below 80 per cent for the first time in four years as cheap imports nibble at market share. There will be some reaction in airport stocks as ratings agency CRISIL said the cumulative capex (capital expenditure) of Indian airports is expected to grow 12 per cent at Rs 60,000 crore in the three years through FY27 from Rs 53,000 crore during 2022-2024, to add required infrastructure for about 65 million passengers per annum. Auto component industry stocks will be in limelight as industry body -- Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) said the automotive components industry grew 11 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3.32 lakh crore in the first half of the current fiscal.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as investors evaluated key economic indicators ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting next week. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday as investors assess China’s stimulus vows after high-level economic meeting.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Thursday due to intense selling in index majors NTPC, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Motors as investors turned cautious ahead of the inflation data announcement. After making a cautious start, key gauges gradually declined throughout the session, and ended near the day’s lows as traders were anxious with Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest edition of Asian Development Outlook (ADO) stating that it lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 6.5 per cent for the current financial year (FY25) from its earlier estimate of 7 per cent due to lower-than-expected growth in private investment and housing demand. It has also lowered India’s growth forecast for 2025-26 financial year. Some concern also came as exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,012.24 crore. Rising crude oil prices also weighed on the domestic sentiments, as the data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week ended December 6. Sentiments remained down-beat amid reports that the elevated inflation does not offer the Reserve Bank any space for an interest rate cut in the next policy review in February and the whole of FY26 as well. Traders overlooked a report by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) stating that India's states have demonstrated remarkable economic resilience in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 25 states achieving over 7 per cent growth in their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) during FY22 and FY23. Among these, 17 states surpassed an impressive 9 per cent growth rate, with Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Odisha standing out for their robust economic performance during 2021-22 and 2022-23. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 236.18 points or 0.29% to 81,289.96, and the CNX Nifty was down by 93.10 points or 0.38% to 24,548.70.

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