Indian equity benchmarks recovered from initial losses to register new record closing highs in a volatile session on Wednesday, amid largely positive cues from Asian markets and persistent foreign fund inflows. With this, local gauges extended their rise for the third straight session. After making cautious start, markets traded with minor losses, as investors remain concerned about rising cases of coronavirus worldwide. Selling further crept in amid report that the committee, comprising senior central and state tax officers, is looking to further tighten the Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration process and work out other legal measures including necessary law amendment required in the GST Act to curb the menace of fake invoicing. Also, the provisions related to deemed registration under GST law may be tightened to prevent the misuse of such provisions by fake dealers and the provisions related to the suspension of registration may also be streamlined to make the procedure of suspension and cancellation of registration more efficient and faster, so that such fraud operators can be prevented in time from continuing to pass on fake credit down the chain. However, in late hour of trade, domestic markets erased all the losses to settle in green terrain, as private report upgraded its India GDP forecast to a contraction of 10.3 per cent in FY21, as against its earlier estimate of a negative growth of 14.8 per cent. The US-based firm said developments on the vaccine front -- where two candidates have posted satisfactory progress -- will be very helpful in the recovery. Market participants also took a note of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that his government will leave no stone unturned to make India a preferred global investment destination as he pitched for foreign investment to modernise urban centres, offering a business friendly climate and a huge market. As the nation rebuilds post pandemic, he said COVID-19 has given governments the chance to accelerate the 'process of making cities more liveable for people. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 227.34 points or 0.52% to 44,180.05, while the CNX Nifty was up by 64.05 points or 0.50% to 12,938.25.

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday, extending their previous session's losses, amid renewed concerns about new restrictions and lockdowns as a result of the recent surge in coronavirus cases. A number of states are imposing new restrictions due to the spike in cases, with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing that public schools in the city will be closed as of tomorrow.  The tighter restrictions come as data from John Hopkins University showed there were nearly 162,000 new coronavirus cases and 1,707 deaths on Tuesday. The daily death toll represents a six-month high. On the economic data front, new residential construction in the US spiked by more than expected in the month of October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department. The report said housing starts surged up by 4.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.530 million in October after soaring by 6.3 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 1.459 million in September. Street had expected housing starts to jump by 3.2 percent to a rate of 1.460 million from the 1.415 million originally reported for the previous month. With the bigger than expected increase, housing starts reached their highest annual rate since coming in at 1.567 million in February.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday amid expectations that OPEC+ will extend its current production cuts further into 2021, or even increase the cuts. A smaller than expected increase in US crude inventories in the week ended October 13 also contributed to oil's uptick. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude stockpiles in the US increased by 768,000 barrels last week, less than an expected increase of 1.65 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday a build in crude oil inventories of 4.174 million barrels for the week ending November 13, while analysts had predicted an inventory build of 1.95-million barrels. Crude oil futures for December gained $0.39 or about 0.9 percent to settle at $41.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude rose $0.58 or 1.3 percent to settle at $44.33 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Rising for the third straight day, Indian rupee ended stronger against dollar on Wednesday due to fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters. Sentiments were upbeat with private report which upgraded India GDP forecast to a contraction of 10.3 per cent in FY21, as against its earlier estimate of a negative growth of 14.8 per cent. On the global front, Sterling was aided on Wednesday by a weaker US dollar and by hopes that Britain will forge a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union in time for its departure from the EU's customs union and single market in January. Finally, the rupee ended at 74.19, 27 paise stronger from its previous close of 74.46 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Wednesday's data were net buyer in both equity and debt segment.  In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 14999.80 crore against gross selling of Rs 9381.06 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 643.13 crore with gross sales of Rs 524.14 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.63 crore against gross selling of Rs 11.08 crore.

The US markets ended in red on Wednesday as investors weighed surging COVID-19 infections and mounting shutdowns against encouraging vaccine developments. Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday followed Wall Street's sharp selloff as concerns about rising coronavirus infections and new shutdowns in major US cities hosed down earlier investor enthusiasm about COVID-19 vaccine developments. Indian markets ended at a record close on Wednesday led by gains in financials and auto stocks. Today, the start of session is likely to be pessimistic amid revived coronavirus fears and sell-off in global markets. India has reported merely 45,439 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The total caseload now stands at 8,958,143. The country's death toll has mounted to 131,618. Delhi recorded 7,486 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the infection tally in the city to 500,000, while 131 new fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date, pushed the toll to 7,943. Traders will also be concerned with a private report that India is among the few major nations among emerging and developing economies with higher inflation in October 2020 compared to December 2019 (pre-Covid levels). Also, among these nations, the rise in core inflation is the highest in India. however, some support may come later in the day with another private report that overseas investors have pumped in $6.3 billion in Indian equity markets in three months ended September on attractive valuations, opening-up of the economy and resumption in business activities. Meanwhile, the Revenue Department has reviewed the progress of Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, a direct tax legacy dispute resolution scheme launched by the government in March this year. The finance ministry revealed that till date Rs 72,480 crore of tax has been paid by CPSUs and taxpayers against the disputed demand under the scheme. Banking and financial counters will be in limelight as the Supreme Court is scheduled to resume hearing in the interest waiver case later today. Aviation stocks will be in focus with data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation showing that Indian airlines carried 5.27 million passengers in October, down 57% year-on-year, as a relentless rise in covid cases has kept appetite for travel in. Though, domestic air traffic jumped by 33.67 percent month-on-month in October, continuing on a gradual but steady rebound after flights resumed in May after the lockdown.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Cipla has signed a licensing agreement with a Belgium-based firm, Multi G for the distribution of their COVID-19 Rapid Antibody test kit, across most Emerging markets and Europe. 
• L&T has bagged biggest order ever for its Construction and Mining Equipment Businesses to supply 46 units of Komatsu Mining Equipment from Tata Steel. 
• Wipro has received approval from shareholders for up to Rs 9,500 crore share buyback plan. 
• IndusInd Bank has sold 23,94,559 Equity Shares comprising 3.29% of paid-tip Equity capital of  Eveready Industries India in various tranches.