Indian equity markets concluded the week on a sluggish note as the benchmarks showcased an unenthusiastic performance on Friday and settled with moderate cuts of around two tens of a percent. Sentiments remained subdued with the minutes of the RBI's April 6 policy meeting suggest that the next move of the central bank will likely be a hike in key policy rates. All members expressed concern about stickiness in core inflation and believed that the disinflationary effect of demonetisation will be transient. The minutes of the MPC meeting was made public yesterday. Further, investors continued to keep an eye on developments in France following news that a policeman was shot dead in Paris in a suspected terrorist attack just days before the presidential election. The polls show a nail-bitingly close race between four candidates, setting the stage for heightened volatility. Investors ultimately expect victory from the centrist Emmanuel Macron but are fretting over the likelihood of a strong showing by either far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen or far-Left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Both Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon, say they want to tear up agreements that bind together the 28 European Union nations. A victory of either could drive a 5 to 10% selloff of European equities. Other contenders seen as more supportive of EU membership include Francois Fillon, a conservative former prime minister, and Emmanuel Macron, a former banker and economy minister. On the domestic front, inventor sentiments got undermined after deputy governor of RBI, SS Mundra said that the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India had not yet reached an agreement on a new plan to clean up the record troubled debt accumulated at the country's lenders. Meanwhile, sugar stocks edged higher after the Uttar Pradesh government asked sugar mills to clear cane dues of farmers within next 14 days, while assuring their delegation that it will give all facilities to establish new mills in the state. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 57.09 points or 0.19% to 29365.30, while the CNX Nifty was down by 17 points or 0.19% to 9,119.40. 

US markets ended the lackluster day of trade in red terrain on Friday amid geopolitical uncertainty ahead of the first round of voting in the French presidential election on Sunday. Recent polls have suggested the race is too close to call amid questions about the impact of yesterday's terrorist attack that left one French police officer dead and two others wounded. With no candidate expected to win more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will likely head to a runoff on May 7, 2017. Traders largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Realtors showing that US existing home sales jumped to their highest level in ten years in March. The report said existing home sales jumped 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.71 million in March after slumping by 3.9 percent to a downwardly revised 5.47 million February. The street had expected existing home sales to climb by 2.2 percent to a rate of 5.60 million from the 5.48 million originally reported for the previous month. With the much bigger than expected increase, existing home sales surged up to their highest level since reaching 5.79 million in February of 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 30.95 points or 0.15 percent to 20,547.76, Nasdaq slipped 6.26 points or 0.11 percent to 5,910.52 and S&P 500 was down by 7.15 points or 0.30 percent to 2,348.69.

Crude oil futures plunged on Friday, as investors grew concerned that growing levels of U.S. oil production would offset OPEC's efforts to rein in supply. Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih expressed concerns that rising U.S. oil output would undermine the effectiveness of extending the current OPEC-led deal to cut supply, beyond June. Meanwhile, US drilling activity didn't showed any sign of a slowdown, as Oilfield services firm Barker Hughes reported that its weekly U.S. rig count rose by 5 to 688. Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery ended lower by $1.09 to $49.62 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for June delivery ended down by $ 1.13 at $51.86 on the ICE.

Indian rupee depreciated against the US dollar on Friday due to fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers. Rupee sentiment was hit by the minutes of the RBI's April 6 policy meeting, where all members expressed concern about stickiness in core inflation and believed that the disinflationary effect of demonetisation will be transient. Additionally, a firm dollar against some global currencies overseas along with some losses in the local equities too pressurized the sentiment. On the global front, dollar gained against most leading rivals on Friday, ahead of the first round of a tight French presidential race that likely holds implications for the eurozone economy. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.62, 6 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.56 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 3964.98 crore against gross selling of Rs 4074.22 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 436.87 crore with gross sales of Rs 310.43 crore.

The US markets ended marginally lower in the last session, despite the release of bullish economic data and an update from President Donald Trump on his tax reform plan. The uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the French Presidential election offset bullish economic data. The Asian markets have made a mixed start with some of the indices in the region trading in red led by the Chinese market. The euro jumped the most in a month while the yen retreated and volatility ebbed as Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen won the first round of voting in France. The Indian markets after dilly-dallying in the second half of last session, made a modestly lower closing ahead of the weekend's French presidential election. Today, the start of the crucial F&O series expiry week is likely to be a bit cautious tailing the global cues. Traders however will be getting some encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that Indian economy will grow at a clip of 7.5 percent this fiscal, up from 7.1 percent in the previous year, and it remains resilient with low inflation, fiscal prudence and low deficit. Also, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked all the ministries and departments to modify enabling framework and regulations in tune with the liberalised FDI policy with a view to attracting more foreign investment. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers have considered a new approach in policy planning that aims to give states a greater say in determining national priorities-including in internal security and defence-set out in a 15-year vision and a draft three-year short-term action plan ending 2019-20. The IT sector will be in focus, as the Finance Minister has taken up the vexed issue of the Trump administration mulling curbs in H-1B, with the American authorities during his ongoing visit, though the US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system. Traders will also be eyeing some important earnings announcement including that of Reliance Industries.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Reliance Industries is set to emerge as the second largest producer of Para-xylene in the world, as the company is set to commission one of the largest and integrated Ethylene crackers.
• Larsen & Toubro and Hanwha Techwin of South Korea have signed a contract for execution of the 155mm/ 52 Cal Tracked Self Propelled Gun program for the Indian Army.
• TCS has partnered with Jnana Prabodhini, a social organisation, to build the world's largest online community of teaching professionals.
• HDFC Bank has posted a rise of 18.25% in its net profit at Rs 3990.09 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as compared to Rs 3374.22 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.