Indian equity benchmarks somehow managed to keep their head above water and went home with slender gains on Friday. Though, markets started the session on optimistic note with report that capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed compulsory physical settlement in stock derivatives contracts and has sought comments from market participants in a discussion paper, as it is concerned over the suitability of derivatives for retail investors. Soon after the start, optimism got fizzled out and key gauges traded in very tight band, swinging between green and red for most part of the day. Traders turned cautious on report that Sebi imposed an Rs 2,423 crore penalty on PACL and its four directors for illegal fund mobilisation through various schemes that were used by the group to garner over Rs 49,000 crore from the public. Buying in dying hour of trade helped markets to settle slightly in green, as some support came with private report that emerging as a significant source of investments into capital markets, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to pump in Rs 25,000-30,000 crore in equities in 2017-18 with Rs 5,700 crore already invested this year so far. The report added that National Pension Scheme (NPS) is also among the sources for driving the domestic flow surge, which has been positive for the past 17 months. Traders also get some comfort with a joint report by Ficci and Deloitte which stated that Indian retail industry, growing at 10 percent, may almost double to Rs 85 trillion (lakh crore) by 2021 steered by consumer data and technology disruptions. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 24.78 points or 0.08% to 31,687.52, while the CNX Nifty was up by 4.90 points or 0.05% to 9,934.80.

The US markets ended the lackluster session mostly in red terrain on Friday amid concerns about the economic impact of Hurricane Irma, with the massive storm expected to make landfall in Florida early Sunday. While Irma was downgraded from a category 5 to a category 4, FEMA Administrator Brock Long warned the hurricane continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the U.S. in either Florida or some of the southeastern states. The approach of Irma comes close on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, which led to widespread devastation and flooding in Texas. Sentiments also remained dampened on concern about North Korea, which is celebrating a holiday on Saturday that could be a key date for another intercontinental ballistic missile launch. Bucking the trend, the Dow managed to close modestly higher due largely to a substantial rebound by Travelers (TRV). Traders largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing wholesale inventories rose by more than anticipated in the month of July. The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories climbed by 0.6 percent in July, matching the downwardly revised increase in June. The S&P 500 slipped by 3.67 points or 0.15 percent to 2,461.43, while the Nasdaq declined 37.68 points or 0.59 percent to 6,360.19, however The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 13.01 points or 0.06 percent to 21,797.79.

Crude oil futures extended their decline for the second consecutive day, but held onto weekly gains as industry data showed the U.S. oil rig count dropped for a third week in four. Also, after two weeks after Storm Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast, knocking out a quarter of U.S. oil refining capacity, oil prices continued to come under pressure as refineries have been slow to restart, weighing on demand for crude oil, the primary input at refineries. Meanwhile, Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the United States declined by 3 to 756. Benchmark crude oil futures for October delivery ended down by $1 or 2.04 percent to $48.09 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for October delivery ended lower by 1.34 percent at $53.76 a barrel on the ICE.

Indian rupee gained for a third straight session, strengthening to a one-month high against US dollar on Friday on continuous selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Sentiments remained up-beat with a joint report by Ficci and Deloitte which stated that Indian retail industry, growing at 10 percent, may almost double to Rs 85 trillion by 2021 steered by consumer data and technology disruptions. The rupee sentiment was also boosted as the dollar slipped against other currencies overseas.  On the global front, dollar tumbled to its weakest level since the start of 2015 as fading expectations of US interest-rate increases, North Korea tensions and a historically powerful hurricane unsettled investors. Finally, the rupee ended at 63.78, 26 paise stronger from its previous close of 64.04 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday'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 5234.93 crore against gross selling of Rs 5537.58 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 805.55 crore with gross sales of Rs 122.09 crore.

The US markets once again made mostly a lower closing in the last session, booking another week of loses, as investors traded cautiously ahead of a potential missile test by North Korea and Hurricane Irma's arrival on the Florida coast over the weekend. The Asian markets have made a green start and some of the indices are up by about a percent, as the hurricane Irma's force waned and the United Nations prepared to vote on tougher North Korean sanctions. The Indian markets despite a lackluster trade in last session managed a modestly positive close. Today, the start is likely to be in green and some upmove can be expected in early deals supported by the good regional cues. Traders will be reacting to the outcome of the crucial meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council that took place on Saturday, where the council cut GST rate for over 40 items of mass consumption. There will be some buzz in the auto sector stocks, as the GST Council raised the cess on motor vehicles--mid-size cars, large cars and sports utility vehicles-- by 2%, 5% and 7% respectively instead of whole 10% increase effected in the law, while keeping the overall tax incidence within 50%. There will be some action in the markets, as the investments in the domestic capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) slumped to a five-year low of Rs 1.35 lakh crore in July amid stringent norms put in place by Sebi. The power sector stocks too will remain in action, as Fitch Ratings in its report has said that India may produce surplus power in the current financial year but sporadic outages continue to plague the country and 24 per cent households are yet to be electrified.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• M&M has launched the e-Alfa Mini, its zero emission, all new electric rickshaw for passenger movement.
• TCS has partnered with GE to integrate intelligence into Services Data Lake Platform.
• Tata Motors' subsidiary -- JLR has reported total retail sales of 38,519 vehicles in August, up 4.3% compared to August 2016.
• Reliance Industries' telecom arm - Jio has entered into partnership with Intex Technologies to provide an additional 25GB 4GB data for Intex 4G smartphone users so that they can enjoy their festive season to the fullest.