Indian equity markets ended Samvat 2075 on muted note on Friday, with Sensex & Nifty closing with marginal gains. After a cautious start, key indices remained positive for a brief period, aided by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that efforts will be made to further simplify Goods and Services Tax, and expressed hope that it will help in further improving India's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index. Soon markets turned volatile, amid a report that the government might be impelled to steeply cut its direct tax collection target, with growth in this regard slumping to 3.5 per cent up to mid-October from the same period in the earlier financial year, as against the Budget target of 17.3 per cent. Indices altered between green & red terrain, after Director of Development Economics at the World Bank, Simeon Djankov said India needs a fresh set of bold reforms in the next three to four years if it wants to be among the top 50 countries with ease of doing business. But, indices somehow ended slightly in green terrain, taking support from Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant's statement India's improved ease of doing biz ranking is a huge achievement but there is a scope of improvement on some parameters. Some support also came with report that notwithstanding global & domestic economic uncertainties, private equity funds recorded an all-time-high investment of $9.4 billion in the third quarter this year, driven by big-ticket transactions. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 37.67 points or 0.10% to 39,058.06, while the CNX Nifty was up by 1.30 points or 0.01% to 11,583.90.

The US markets extended their gains and ended higher on Monday, with S&P 500 hitting a record high, amid continued optimism about US-China trade talks as well as news that the European Union (EU) has granted the UK's request for a Brexit deadline extension. The move by the EU, which delays Brexit until January 31, was widely expected but still removes the risk of a damaging no-deal split on Thursday. Besides, the US Trade Representative's office on Friday released a statement (link) that said US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday and were close to completing some sections of an agreement with Chinese negotiators. Meanwhile, report that the merger-and-acquisition from also generated some buying interest, with Tiffany (TIF) soaring after French luxury goods maker LVMH confirmed it is talks to acquire the jeweler. Liberty Property Trust (LPT) also moved sharply higher after agreeing to be acquired by rival commercial real estate firm Prologis (PLD) in an all-stock deal valued at $12.6 billion. Fitbit (FIT) also spiked in recent trading after a report stating that Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) has offered to acquire the wearable device maker. The end of a 40-day strike at auto giant General Motors (GM) added to the positive sentiment, as members of the United Auto Workers union approved a new four-year contract. Investors are laser-focused on corporate earnings reports, with 162 S&P 500 companies due to release quarterly financial results this week. 

Snapping four-day winning streak, crude oil futures settled lower on Monday as worries about energy demand outlook due to weak Chinese industrial data outweighed positive news on US-China trade front. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics over the weekend showed China's industrial profits declined at a faster pace in September as producer prices continued to fall. Besides, speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies would consider deeper production cuts when they meet in December restrict the down side. Russia's energy ministry said on Friday it is continuing close cooperation with Saudi Arabia, OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers to enhance market stability and predictability. Benchmark crude oil futures for December fell 85 cents or 1.5 percent to settle at $55.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent lost 45 cents or 0.7 percent to settle at $61.57 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Friday on selling of dollars by banks and exporters. Traders took some support with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that efforts will be made to further simplify Goods and Services Tax, and expressed hope that it will help in further improving India's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index. However, gains remain capped as anxiety remained among the traders with Fitch Ratings stating that the ongoing NBFC crisis and the consequential credit squeeze may severely affect the economic growth, which is likely to be print at a six-year low of 5.5 percent in FY20. On the global front, euro was slightly up on Friday after a survey revealed German business morale held steady in October, though levels were not far from the one-week low it fell to Thursday on the European Central Bank leaving the door open for more policy easing. Finally, the rupee ended at 70.90, 12 paise stronger from its previous close of 71.02 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net sellers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5811.69 crore against gross selling of Rs 6005.07 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 548.35 crore with gross sales of Rs 931.48 crore. Besides in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 10.32 crore against gross selling of Rs 10.49 crore.

The US markets climbed on Monday as rising optimism for a trade deal with China combined with solid earnings and bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates. Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, amid hopes for an easing in US-China trade tensions. Indian markets ended marginally higher on Friday after a choppy session amid mixed domestic cues. On Sunday, equities markets started Samvat 2076 on a strong footing, as earnings of some of the biggest companies' bolstered optimism about the recovery in the nation's economy. Markets remain closed on Monday on account of Diwali. Today, the markets are likely to make positive start following firm global cues coupled with fall in crude oil prices. Traders will be taking some encouragement with the Reserve Bank's statement that continuing its northward surge, India's forex kitty has swelled by $1.039 billion to a new life-time high of $440.751 billion for the week ended October 18. Some support may come with World Bank group President David Malpass' statement that India must undertake financial reforms in three key areas like sound regulations for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), allow private sector banks in a big way in the banking sector and deepen capital market to aide growth. Besides, Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that India will spend about $1.4 trillion on its infrastructure development in the next five years. However, there may be some cautiousness with the payroll data of Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) showing that around 1.3 million jobs were created in August, lower than 1.44 million in the previous month (July). Meanwhile, leading stock exchanges BSE and the NSE have decided to take additional surveillance measures in order to reduce volatility in stocks having high promoters pledge. The exchanges have decided to levy a minimum margin of 35% on the stock (including stocks in derivatives segment) where promoters pledged their holding by more than 25% of the total equity capital and have a market capitalization of over Rs 1,000 crore. There will be some reaction in auto stocks with Ind-Ra report that automobile retail sales are likely to pick up with an improvement in consumer sentiment during the ongoing festive season due to recent liquidity easing measures announced by the government and on back of favourable monsoons. Reality stocks will be in focus with report that private equity investments in the domestic real estate sector rose by 19% to $3.8 billion during January-September 2019, mostly in commercial properties. There will be some reaction in the jewellery stocks with the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) report that India's gross exports of gems and jewellery sector are expected to decline 5-7% in 2019-20 as compared to the previous fiscal, on account of a global downturn and rise in gold prices which have affected domestic demand.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, the consumer care business of Wipro, is planning to operationalize its greenfield personal care manufacturing plant in Hyderabad in 2020. 
• Bharti Airtel has launched its Startup Accelerator Program to support growth of early stage Indian tech startups. 
• Tata Steel has partnered with the World Economic Forum to experiment, design and deploy blockchain solutions that will accelerate responsible sourcing and sustainability practices. 
• UltraTech Cement has concluded the final round of the fourth edition of its IndiaNext initiative in Mumbai.