Snapping six day winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the January F&O expiry session on pessimistic note with marginal cut on Thursday, as traders opted to remain on sidelines ahead of Union Budget 2018-19, to be announced on February 1, 2018. Markets made cautious start to the day as traders shrugged off private report which enlightened that waning effects from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) impact will help push the Indian GDP growth to 7% in FY19. The report added that the growth has slid from previous year's 7.1% to 6.5% in FY18 due to the implementation of the GST. But as some of the short-run disruptions caused by GST got ironed out, the firm expects growth to rise in the next couple of years. Traders also paid no heed to report that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) notified easing of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules for several sectors, including single brand retail, non-banking financial companies and construction. On January 10, in big bang reforms ahead of the BJP government's last full Budget, the Union Cabinet had allowed 100% FDI in single brand retail and construction development under the automatic route. Investors took note that a day after PM spoke about Climate Change at Davos, a biennial report by Yale and Columbia Universities has ranked India among the bottom five countries on the Environmental Performance Index 2018, plummeting 36 points from 141 in 2016. The street took note that petrol and diesel prices have touched new highs in Delhi NCR and other metros on Wednesday. Petrol was sold at Rs 72.43 per litre in Delhi, the highest in three years. In Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, petrol was sold at Rs 75.13, Rs 80.30 and Rs 75.12 per litre respectively, also at over three-year high levels. Oil prices have hit their highest since December, 2014, pushed up after US crude inventories posted a 10th straight week of declines and as the dollar continued to weaken. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 111.20 points or 0.31% to 36,050.44, while the CNX Nifty was down by 16.35 points or 0.15% to 11,069.65.

The US markets traded jubilantly on Friday with all the three major averages reaching new record closing highs. Traders remained optimistic to the latest earnings news, with shares of Intel (INTC) moving sharply higher after the semiconductor giant reported fourth quarter results that exceeded the street estimates. On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing slower than expected economic growth in the fourth quarter, but economists recommended looking past the headline number. The real gross domestic product increased by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the 3.2 percent growth seen in the third quarter. The street had expected GDP to climb by 3.0 percent. While the pace of GDP growth slowed more than expected, final sales climbed by 3.2 percent and final sales to domestic purchasers jumped by 4.3 percent. The Nasdaq surged 94.61 points or 1.28 percent to 7,505.77, the S&P 500 edged higher 1.18 points or 33.62 percent to 2,872.87, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 223.92 points or 0.85 percent to 26,616.71.

Crude oil prices rallied to fresh 4-year highs on Friday, as the dollar reversed a short-lived rally ignited by President Donald Trump's encouragement of a stronger U.S. currency. The oil prices sustained its rally even as U.S. drillers continued to add rigs. The oil rig count was up 12 to 759 in the week to January 26, with the biggest weekly rise seen in the Permian field since 2013. Meanwhile, the U.S. expanded at a 2.6% annual pace in fourth quarter. Consumer spending was up sharply, a sign that the economy is doing well. There was also a substantial increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of December. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders spiked by 2.9 percent in December after rising 1.7 percent in November. Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery gained by $0.63 or 1% at $ 66.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery was up by 10 cents or 0.1% to $70.52 a barrel on the ICE.

Exhibiting strength against the dollar for the third straight day, Indian rupee ended higher on Thursday on continued selling of the greenback. Sentiments remained up-beat with private report stating that waning effects from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) impact will help push the Indian GDP growth to 7% in FY19. The report added that the growth has slid from previous year's 7.1% to 6.5% in FY18 due to the implementation of the GST. But as some of the short-run disruptions caused by GST got ironed out, the firm expects growth to rise in the next couple of years. Besides, a muted show by the greenback against other currencies overseas also influenced the rupee uptrend. On the global front, the euro steadied at a three-year high on Thursday as traders waited to see if the European Central Bank would try to cool the currency's hottest run in nearly four years. Finally, the rupee ended at 63.54, 15 paise stronger from its previous close of 63.69 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7920.18 crore against gross selling of Rs 7042.56 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1876.71 crore with gross sales of Rs 1875.85 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 2.20 crore against gross selling of Rs 9.23 crore.

The US markets showed a significant move to the upside during trading on Friday. With the rally on the day, all three of the major averages reached new record closing highs, as traders remained optimistic to the better than expected earnings of Intel (INTC). Asian markets were trading jubilantly in early deals on Monday following significant gains stateside in the last session, which saw major US indexes touch record highs. Indian shares snapped six day winning streak to end marginally in red, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of Union Budget 2018-19, to be announced on February 1, 2018. Today, the start of the day is likely to be in green on positive global cues. Traders will be eyeing the Budget session of the Parliament begins today. As many as 28 bills will be tabled in the Lok Sabha, while 39 bills are listed for the Rajya Sabha for the upcoming session. Market participants will also be eyeing the Economic Survey of India to be presented to Parliament on January 29. Ahead of the Union Budget, the finance ministry every year presents the economic survey, which reviews the overall state of the economy in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, India's government may look to raise as much as a record Rs 1 trillion ($15.7 billion) from the sale of State assets in the next fiscal year to help meet tough fiscal deficit limits while giving it room to boost spending and woo voters before general elections that must be called by early 2019. However, some cautiousness may crept in with a private report stating that India's factory output growth in December 2017 is projected to come down to 5.5-6 per cent, from a 17-month high of 8.4 per cent in November last year. There will be lots of important earnings announcements to keep the market buzzing for the day.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Wipro's wholly owned subsidiary - Wipro LLC will invest $9.9 million in Harte Hanks.
• ONGC has borrowed Rs 4,000 crore from ICICI Bank to part finance acquisition of HPCL.
• Maruti Suzuki India reported 2.96% rise in its net profit at Rs 1799.00 crore for Q3 FY18, as compared to Rs 1747.20 crore for Q3 FY17.
• NTPC has backed out of the 1,200 MW solar park project, which is being implemented at Pavagada in Tumakuru district.