Indian equity benchmarks ended Thursday's session with a gain of over half a percent, on the back of sustained buying by participants. Frontline indices not only ended the session near intraday high levels but also recaptured their crucial 11,200 (Nifty) and 38,100 (Sensex) bastions. After muted start, key indices gained some traction and managed to keep their heads above water, as traders took some support from Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian's statement that the government may announce more fiscal measures to boost demand once the uncertainty related to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic wanes. Buying further crept in as calling for more investment in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is emerging as a land of opportunities. He added that stronger domestic economic capacities can ensure global resilience against external shocks. Markets extended their gains in late afternoon session, as traders remained optimistic with Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant's statement that India will witness huge growth in digital lending as the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the acceptance of digital payments. Investors didn't give any heed to a private report forecasts deeper distress for India which will lead to a 6 per cent growth contraction in FY21, citing the yet to be stabilised infection curve and the COVID-19 caseload in economically key states. According to the report, just 7 percent of the districts in economically key states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, accounting for 30.5 percent of the national economic output, and in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh account for as much as 70 percent of the caseload. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 268.95 points or 0.71% to 38,140.47, while the CNX Nifty was up by 82.85 points or 0.74% to 11,215.45.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday following the release of some disappointing US economic data, including a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for US unemployment benefits increased for the first time in sixteen weeks. The report said initial jobless claims jumped to 1.416 million in the week ended July 18th, an increase of 109,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1.307 million. Street had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 1.300 million originally reported for the previous month. Jobless claims increased for the first time since late March but remain well below the record high of 6.867 million set in the week ended March 28th. A separate report from the Conference Board showed its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators increased by less than expected in the month of June. The Conference Board said its leading economic index jumped by 2.0 percent in June after soaring by an upwardly revised 3.2 percent in May and plunging by 6.3 percent in April. Street had expected the index to surge up by 2.5 percent in June compared to the 2.8 percent spike originally reported for the previous month. Besides, a sharp decline by shares of Microsoft weighed on the markets, with the software giant tumbling by 4.4 percent. Microsoft reported quarterly results that beat street estimates on both the top and bottom lines but said transactional license purchasing continued to slow and its LinkedIn unit was negatively impacted by the weak job market.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session, as alarming growth in the number of US cases of coronavirus point to the potential for further business shutdowns, dulling the prospects for energy demand. An escalation in US-China tensions is also adding to the concerns. Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration reported that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 37 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 17. That was a bit larger than the average increase of 33 billion forecast by S&P Global Platts. Crude oil futures for September dropped 83 cents or 2 percent to settle at $41.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude fell 98 cents or 2.2 percent to settle at $43.31a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended flat on Thursday due to mild dollar demand from banks and importers. Investors remained cautious as US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster has flagged concerns about India's policy environment and micro-management of the economy. Juster said for India to become a part of the global supply chain, first you need a stable & predictable regulatory environment, a lighter touch on regulations and you need to unleash and not micromanage economic growth. However, sentiments got some support as calling for more investment in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is emerging as a land of opportunities. On the global front, dollar hit four-month lows against a basket of peer currencies on Thursday, resuming its slide as investors took a wait and see approach to tensions between the United States and China. Finally, the rupee ended unchanged from its previous close of 74.75 on Wednesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity, while they were net sellers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6924.61 crore against gross selling of Rs 5185.19 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1653.17 crore with gross sales of Rs 1875.93 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 20.55 crore against gross selling of Rs 18.78 crore.

The US markets settled sharply lower on Thursday as investors fled tech shares amid worsening pandemic, higher US jobless claims and mixed corporate earnings. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday amid tensions between the US and China and an overnight fall in US markets. Indian markets ended higher on Thursday led by gains in financials and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. Today, the start of session is likely to be pessimistic following sell-off in the global markets coupled with rising coronavirus cases in the country. India has seen its biggest daily spurt in the number of coronavirus cases, with over 48,000 new infections being reported in a span of 24 hours. The total now stands at 1,288,130. Traders will be concerned with Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj's statement that the government is unlikely to meet the Budget targets for 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 crisis but contraction in economic growth may not be as severe as being pointed out by the outside world. However, some respite may come later in the day with Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey's statement that tax mop up in first quarter of the current fiscal is very encouraging and indicates that the economy is recovering sooner than what was anticipated at the time of imposition of lockdown. Some support may also come as IHS Markit expects the Indian economy to rebound in the second half of 2020 as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, and predicts 6.7% growth in the next financial year. Market participants may take note of Finance Ministry's statement that the government is working on offering production linked incentives for up to five sectors to boost domestic manufacturing. Power stocks were in focus with a private report that power demand is expected to decline by around 8% in current fiscal due to the steep fall in demand from commercial and industrial segments on the back of Covid-19 pandemic-induced nationwide lockdown. There will be some reaction in sugar stocks with ICRA's report that the domestic sugar production is likely to go up by 12% to 30.5 MT during the sugar year 2021, beginning October, due to availability of sugarcane in Maharashtra and Karnataka. There will be some result announcements to keep the markets in action.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Infosys has formed a consortium with pymetrics, Merit America, Per Scholas, Revature, and Woz Enterprise. 
• L&T has reported 79.41% fall in its consolidated net profit from continuing operations & discontinued operations attributable to owners at Rs 303.14 crore for Q1FY21 as against Rs 1472.58 crore for Q1FY20. 
• Wipro is planning to launch its 5G edge services solutions suite.  
• Bharti Airtel's subsidiary -- Airtel Payments Bank has entered into partnership with the NSDC to skill the youth in rural India.