Indian equity markets gave up most of their gains in the fag-end but managed to end with marginal gains on Tuesday backed by strong global cues. Markets made a positive start and remained in range-bound throughout the session, as traders took some support with Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the Modi government has provided a corruption free regime in the last 10 years and the country in the next few years will become the world's third largest economy. Sentiments remained positive with a survey showing that India's business activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 14 years in the month of April thanks to robust demand. It also showed easing input inflation and positive jobs growth. That suggests India is well placed to remain the fastest growing major economy this year after posting strong expansion over the past few quarters. HSBC's flash India Composite purchasing managers' Index INPMCF=ECI, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 62.2 this month from March's final reading of 61.8. The reading has been consistently above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction since August 2021. Sentiments remained positive in late afternoon deals, taking support from RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Shashanka Bhide’s statement that sustaining the economic growth momentum of 7 per cent in 2024-25 and beyond is feasible on the back of favorable monsoon, higher farm productivity and improved global trade. Traders also took a note of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that reverse migration has started in which a lot of people, who have a global footprint, are finding businesses, professions and careers to be built in India. She said Ideally, India should be a country which is worth for our grandchildren to stay and live and lead their lives and contribute for the country rather than run away from here because opportunities, job satisfaction, career enhancement, are better there and not here. However, markets pared some gains in final minutes of trade as traders remained on sidelines ahead of key updates on U.S. inflation and corporate earnings this week. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 89.83 points or 0.12% to 73,738.45 and the CNX Nifty was up by 31.60 points or 0.14% points to 22,368.00.

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday with Nasdaq settling gain of over 245 points as several counters across various sectors continued to attract strong buying amid expectations of strong earnings from technology majors. Several technology heavyweights such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms are scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings this week. Other big names including Boeing, Intel, American Airlines, Chevron and Exxon Mobil are also slated to report their quarterly earnings during the course of this week. On the economic data front, the S&P Global US Composite PMI declined to 50.9 in April from 52.1 in the previous month, signaling only a slight expansion in the country's private sector, which was the softest since December, a preliminary estimate showed. The S&P Global Flash US Manufacturing PMI fell to a four-month low of 49.9 in April 2024, from 52.0 in March. The reading was expected to come in at 52.0. The S&P Global US Services PMI dropped to a five-month low of 50.9 in April. A report released by the Commerce Department showed new home sales spiked by 8.8 percent to an annual rate of 693,000 in March after plunging by 5.1 percent to a revised rate of 637,000 in February. Street had expected new home sales to rise to an annual rate of 668,000 from the 662,000 originally reported for the previous month. Building permits fell by 3.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.467 million in March 2024, revised from a preliminary estimate of 1.458 million. This follows a 2.3 percent increase in February.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Tuesday after preliminary data showing a slowdown in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of April raised hopes the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates soon. The S&P Global US Composite PMI declined to 50.9 in April from 52.1 in the previous month, signaling only a slight expansion in the country's private sector, which was the softest since December, a preliminary estimate showed. The weak data and renewed hopes of an early rate cut weighed on U.S. dollar. The dollar index dropped to 105.61, losing nearly 0.5%. Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery surged $1.46 or 1.78% to settle at $83.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery rose $1.42 or 1.63% to $88.42 per barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended higher against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday on positive domestic markets and a soft American currency. Traders took support with a survey showing that India's business activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 14 years in the month of April thanks to robust demand. It also showed easing input inflation and positive jobs growth. That suggests India is well placed to remain the fastest growing major economy this year after posting strong expansion over the past few quarters. HSBC's flash India Composite purchasing managers' Index INPMCF=ECI, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 62.2 this month from March's final reading of 61.8. The reading has been consistently above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction since August 2021. On the global front, yen hit fresh multi-year lows against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday, keeping investors on heightened intervention watch ahead of the Bank of Japan's meeting this week, while dovish policy maker chatter left sterling around its softest in months. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.34 (Provisional), stronger by 2 paise from its previous close of 83.36 on Monday.

The FIIs as per Tuesday's data were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 13322.30 crore against gross selling of Rs 15941.30 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1721.38 crore with gross sales of Rs 776.80 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 22.88 crore against gross selling of Rs 25.36 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday following positive earnings from top-tier companies and as investors were focused on quarterly results from Magnificent Seven and other megacap growth stocks. Asian markets are trading in green on Wednesday, following Wall Street's continued rally for a second straight day. Indian markets squandered most of the day’s gains in last-hour selling on Tuesday and closed with modest gains for a third session in a row. Today, markets are likely to open in green terrain tracking positive global cues as tensions in the Middle-East (Israel-Iran) eased. Traders continue to take support with report that India's business activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 14 years this month thanks to robust demand, also the report showed easing input inflation and positive jobs growth. Sentiments will get a boost with a private report that India's GDP growth is likely to average 7% from 2024-25 to 2029-30. Traders may take note of report that the government is formulating action plans for as many as 20 agricultural products including banana, mangoes, potato and baby corn with a view to further boost export of these commodities. Additional Secretary in the department of commerce Rajesh Agarwal said the action for each of these products is likely to be ready in the next 3-4 months. However, there may be some cautiousness ahead of monthly F&O expiry tomorrow. Traders may be concerned as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest bulletin said that extreme weather events along with prolonged geopolitical tensions could pose a risk to India’s inflation trajectory, even as growth in the South Asian nation exhibits an uptrend. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments in markets. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 3,044.54 crore on April 23, provisional data from the NSE showed. Oil prices rose in early trade on Wednesday, may add pressure on the markets. Oil prices rose after industry data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude stocks last week, a positive sign for demand, and attention shifted away from hostilities in the Middle East. Some pessimism may come as the net foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, inflows minus the outflows, dropped sharply by 45.5 per cent in the 11 months of Financial Year 2024 (April 2023 to February 2024), when compared with the same period a year ago due to a rise in repatriation of capital. Telecom industry stocks will be in focus as data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed that the telecom sector witnessed a 1.88 per cent sequential growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), reaching Rs 67,835 crore in the third quarter (October-December) of FY24. On the earnings front, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), 5Paisa, AU Small Finance Bank, Dalmia Bharat, DCB Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Indian Hotels, Macrotech Developers (Lodha), LTIMindtree, Nitin Fire Protection, OFSS and Syngene International are among the notable companies scheduled to announce Q4FY24 numbers today.

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

• Bharti Airtel’s subsidiary -- Airtel Payments Bank has launched its eco-friendly NCMC (National Common Mobility Cards) enabled debit and pre-paid cards.
• IndusInd Bank has successfully executed RBI’s programmable CBDC pilot, being the first Bank.
• Reliance Industries basis, the company has reported 0.39% fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 21,243 crore for Q4FY24 as compared to Rs 21,327 crore for Q4FY23.
• M&M’s subsidiary -- Mahindra Last Mile Mobility has unveiled its latest e-auto, the Treo Plus with a metal body.