Key Indian equity indices ended volatile session on a flat note on Thursday, tracking mixed global cues. The trading day begun on a cheerful note, as India improved its ranking on the World Bank's ease of doing business report for the second straight year. In its annual Doing Business 2019 report, World Bank (WB) said India jumped 23 places to rank 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas. But, the markets soon turned volatile to swing between gains and losses, affected by reports that the growth of eight core infrastructure industries slowed to four-month low of 4.3% in September 2018, as production of crude oil and natural gas declined. Anxiety also spread among traders with a private report stating that India, which is the second-most populated nation in the world and on the verge of becoming the youngest country, will start ageing in next 15 years. This 15-year window is the best time to create job opportunities and capitalize on country's rich demographic dividend. Meanwhile, industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) called for immediate action by the central bank to ensure sufficient liquidity in the financial market to prevent a potentially crippling credit crunch. However, the key indices erased their early losses to end the session with minor cut, supported by a report that the Indian manufacturing sector strengthened further in the month of October, on account of stronger order inflows and job creation. As per the survey report, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - improved to 53.1 in October from 52.2 in September. The market participants also took support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that GST collections in October have crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. The revenue from goods and services tax (GST) in September was Rs 94,442 crore. Adding some relief, the finance ministry said that India is likely to announce new steps to support small and medium-sized businesses, such as increased access to credit and financial markets, at an industry event on November 2. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 10.08 points or 0.03% to 34,431.9705, while the CNX Nifty was down by 6.15 points or 0.06% to 10,380.45.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as a rebound from sharp losses last month continued after comments from President Donald Trump indicated potential progress in US-China trade relations. President Donald Trump said he had a very good conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade. He also said meetings between the two at the upcoming G-20 summit are being scheduled. The comment from Trump comes following recent reports the US will impose tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if the talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit fail to ease the trade war. Besides, Trump added that he had good discussion on North Korea. On the economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a slight drop in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended October 27.  The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 214,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 216,000. A separate report from the Labor Department showed a slowdown in the pace of labor productivity growth in the third quarter. The Labor Department said labor productivity climbed by 2.2 percent in the third quarter after jumping by 3.0 percent in the second quarter. Street had expected productivity to increase by about 2.0 percent. Meanwhile, the report said unit labor costs surged up by 1.2 percent in the third quarter after slumping by 1.0 percent in the second quarter. The rebound in labor costs matched street estimates. Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 264.98 points or 1.06 percent to 25380.74, Nasdaq gained 128.16 points or 1.75 percent to 7434.06 and S&P 500 was up by 28.63 points or 1.06 percent to 2740.37.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday sending the US benchmark to its lowest finish since April and pushing the global benchmark below its 200-day average for the first time in more than a year, as reports showed sizable increases in last month's global production. Further, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lifted its production to 33.31 million barrels a day in October, up 390,000 barrels a day from September. Benchmark crude oil futures for December fell $1.62 or 2.5 percent to settle at $63.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude dropped $2.15 or 2.9 percent to settle at $72.89 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchanged.

Snapping two days of depreciating streak, Indian rupee ended significantly higher against dollar on Thursday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters.  Sentiments got boost with survey report that the Indian manufacturing sector strengthened further in the month of October, on account of stronger order inflows and job creation. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - improved to 53.1 in October from 52.2 in September. Some comfort also came with report that India jumped 23 spots in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking to 77th place, becoming the top ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS. Besides, the dollar losing muscle against other currencies overseas helped the domestic currency rebound. On the global front, euro rallied half a per cent on Thursday as currencies hit hard by recent dollar buying surged higher in a more positive mood for risk-taking. Finally, the rupee ended at 73.45, 50 paise stronger from its previous close of 73.95 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net sellers in equity and debt segments both. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8574.55 crore against gross selling of Rs 8974.97 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1157.03 crore with gross sales of Rs 1867.03 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 0.91 crore against gross selling of Rs 0.55 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as investors greeted the latest batch of earnings optimistically amid signs of easing trade tension. Asian markets were trading in green in early deals on Friday as China and the United States expressed optimism about resolving their bruising trade war. Indian markets ended Thursday's choppy trading session marginally in red as liquidity concerns and worries over the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) autonomy weighted on sentiments amid unabated foreign fund outflows. Today, the markets are likely to make a positive start tracking firm global cues on easing trade war worries. Traders will be getting some encouragement with finance minister Arun Jaitely's statement that India's target of being among the top 50 countries in World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Rankings looks plausible. Also, there will be some support with a private report that India's equity market capitalisation would grow at a compound annual rate of 12% to reach $6 trillion by 2028. Traders may take note of industry body, the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) statement that the country needs to focus on areas like registering property and enforcing contracts to get even better ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index in the coming years. Meanwhile, India may impose anti-dumping duty of up to $207.72 per tonne for a period of five years on a Chinese chemical used in the detergent industry to guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports from the neighbouring country. Moreover, the Union Cabinet approved promulgating an ordinance to amend the Companies Act. The Corporate Affairs Ministry, which is implementing the Act, has been looking at ways to promote ease of doing business as well as ensure better compliance levels. There will be some buzz in the gold and jewellery industry related stocks with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu's statement that the government is working to set up a Domestic Gold Council to promote the growth of the sector and boost exports of jewellery. He added that there are huge opportunities in the global market to push exports of gold jewellery. Also, there will be some reaction in airlines industry stocks with rating agency Crisil's report that domestic airlines are projected to post the steepest losses in a decade in the current fiscal year owing to higher aviation fuel costs and falling rupee. There will be lots of earnings reaction, to keep the markets buzzing.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• ITC's subsidiary -- ITC Hotels -- has launched ITC Grand Goa, a luxury collection resort and spa, formerly known as the Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa, on Arossim beach in Cansaulim, South Goa. 
• Maruti Suzuki India has reported total sales of 146,766 units in October 2018, as compared to146,446 units in October 2017, registering rise of 0.2%. 
• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary company Adani Mundra Port Holding on October 30, 2018. 
• Tata Motors has registered an impressive growth of 18% in its domestic sales at 57,710 units in October 2018, as against 48,886 units over last year.