As India heads for elections in few months, the last budget for the current government could end up as a budget for the people. Markets are expecting some positive announcements from the Finance Minister in the upcoming budget. Epic Research has offered its expectations from Union Budget for the next year.

The budget has always been an event when we expect volatility to expand with perception to safeguard the portfolio and hedge the overall risk in the market we see a lot of activity in the derivatives. This budget is no different than previous but the fact remains it is coming in an Election year.

Indian Markets staged a smart recovery as global cues were positive. As NIFTY and BSE Sensex are in positive zone now, traders can expect markets to remain positive in the coming week. Even if there is a small decline, there could be buying at lower levels. On the positive side, Indian currency also recovered. Forex experts feel that the worst could be over for the Indian currency and we can expect further rally in coming months.

Nifty posted biggest weekly gains since 2016 as Nifty rebounds almost 4.8% to close above 10500 marks. Nifty took an important support of 100 SMA on the weekly chart and rebound was accompanied with a drop in Volatility Index, a measure of fear and buying across was board was visible as Blue-chips rebounded along with Small-cap and Midcap.

Indian Stock Markets witnessed sell-off at higher levels and markets closed nearly one percent lower on Friday. The sell-off led to lower stock valuations after the recent pullback in the markets. The markets will see stock specific action as quarterly results will be announced by companies in the coming weeks. Epic Research has shared the following viewpoints about market direction in coming week.

Bears Engulf on the streets as Bulls were being onslaught at higher levels of 10700 - 10680. The crash and Sell-off was amid multiple factors that were being discounted at one point of time from stock-specific quarterly earnings to FOMC Meeting. A lot was there for investors to be nervous about and that resulted in a sharp sell-off with a rise in volatility.

As part of this month’s Fast Forward India season, BBC World News Business Correspondent Sameer Hashmi interviewed Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, India's first billionaire woman entrepreneur and founder of the country’s largest biopharmaceutical company Biocon. She spoke to new series India’s Game-Changers about her rise to the top, developing new drugs to treat diseases at an affordable cost and her success in a country where women find it hard to get past the first rung in business.

On the challenges of being a woman starting a business in the 1970s:

Nifty ends positively for the third consecutive week on the back of positive global cues but upside remained capped as profit booking was seen with Trade war concerns and US federal rate hike. Bank Nifty lags while defensive sectors shine on the back of value hunting.

Indian aviation sector has witnessed strong growth in the recent quarter. As per latest figures released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), for domestic sectors, Indian aviation companies served 26 percent more passengers during April. Compared to 9.1 million passengers in April 2017, 11.5 million passengers traveled via air during April 2018.

Connectivity has increased among tier-2 and tier-3 cities across India. Indian government has planned major improvements to regional airports and aviation companies are witnessing growth for small cities.

Occupancy was more than 95 percent for SpiceJet (the airline offers aggressive fares on many routes), followed by Indigo at 91.9 percent occupancy. GoAir also managed impressive occupancy rate of 90%.

Indian stock markets registered impressive gains as the global stock markets improved last week and Indian market was lagging behind. Indian stocks opened strong on Monday and selling pressure was witnessed at higher levels. However, towards the end of the trading session, markets registered strong gains and BSE Sensex closed with gains over 600 points. NSE Nifty closed above 10,400. Market analysts consider 10,300 as an important support level for Nifty and the market crossed this level during the early session.

Indian stock market declined last week despite strong recovery in the U.S. markets. Indian investors continued offloading their holding at higher levels, leading to selling pressure on majority of stocks. While blue-chip companies declined less compared to mid-caps, there were select stocks that managed to recover from their recent lows. If the momentum in the U.S. market continues, Indian stocks should see recovery.

Public Sector Banks suffered after a fraud at PNB was reported last week. PNB lost ground as investors dumped the stock. Other stocks in banking sector also suffered as some of the banks reported higher NPA and slippages in the quarterly results.

Epic Research team has offered its view for the Indian markets below...

Indian markets witnessed extreme volatility as the Dow Jones Industrial Average faced sharp decline after touching all-time high during first week of February. As the U.S. markets declined, Indian stocks also witnessed selling pressure with market dropping by nearly 1,000 points in a single trading session. However, as Dow Jones recovered in the second trading session after decline, Indian stocks jumped back to cover up some of the losses.

Dow Jones declined on Thursday again, sending shockwaves across the globe. Markets in Europe and Emerging markets witnessed decline during the last trading session. Dow Jones recovered some of the losses during Friday trading but volatility has resulted in panic selling in select stocks.

Indian stocks touched new all-time high this week. The markets worldwide have witnessed strong gains, mainly led by the U.S. stock markets. Investors are upbeat and strong economic signals have improved confidence of funds managers about future market returns. Indian stocks touched new high and markets were trading strong with small declines in select counters.

Indian real estate sector is expecting better growth in 2018 and the majority of gains could be witnessed in organized real estate segment. Many Indian real estate developers are working on affordable housing projects. Over the last few years, inventory levels have remained high in fast-growing Indian cities.

In 2018, real estate experts are expecting better demand for affordable housing and medium cost housing in developing cities. The bank interest rates have declined and home buyers can now buy with confidence as real estate developers will be following RERA regulations.

Indian real estate sector is undergoing major changes as the government has announced RERA regulations. State governments have notified their own RERA regulations and real estate developers have to get their projects approved under new ruling. Many rogue developers and real estate companies with limited funding will not be able to start with new projects as requirement bar has been raised by majority of states across India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi could lead delegation of nearly 100 CEOs from Indian companies at Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Many top officials and Union Ministers are also expected to attend the event of International business community. As per media reports, Modi is also expected to also expected to address a special plenary session in Davos. After 1997, Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to attend the event in almost two decades.

Indian Stock Markets are trading near their all-time high and any negative news at this point can lead to selloff in equities. While the markets have bounced back quite sharply after each minor correction, the sentiment in local markets will largely depend on global cues. The U.S. government is expected to move ahead with tax overhaul and US stocks are leading global rally on expectations of major tax relief for large businesses. Indian Markets can see volatility in December on account of Gujarat Election results.

Indian Markets Recovered from Previous Week's loss and bulls were completely in charge of the market. The sentiment among retail investors are upbeat as many stocks touched their 52-week high. Indian markets are once-again hovering around their all-time high and global cues have led further strength to Indian equities. Majority of voices talking about correction have been silenced (at least for short term) by underlying strength in the market.

Nifty ended up giving a follow up buying post a reversal pattern last week and reversed from its crucial moving averages. The comeback of bulls was led by positive cues coming in from global markets which continued to flourish near all-time highs along with domestic cues as well.

Indian stock market touched all-time high level of 30,793 for BSE Sensex benchmark index on Thursday. The rally in the last hour of the trading session led stocks to their highest level till date. Indian markets have been touching multi-year highs over the last few months. Today’s rally was supported by banks and blue-chip stocks.

Market analysts and traders are still optimistic about strong rally in coming months. If global factors remain positive, Indian stocks could easily push 31,000 level in June.

Among major gainers in today’s trade were Maruti Suzuki, L&T, HDFC Bank, TVS Motor, Voltas and KEC International.

Macroeconomic data i.e. IIP and inflation data signaled the economic revival, which led the benchmark indices to trade positively on the Monday. Further, indices made fresh highs following the IMD forecast report on arrival of early monsoon. Apart from that, FIIs who have turned net seller in the market, again seems to be buoyant in the Indian market, which has also provided positivity to the surging indices. Also, GST Panel meeting in Srinagar remained the lime light as council was meeting to finalize the rates of goods, services. Apart from above, better than expected corporate results for the Q4 too provided support to the surging indices.

Investors turned cautious after President Donald Trump started controversy in the United States following surprise change of FBI chief. President Trump is facing a major crisis and investors in the U.S. market turned cautious. As the U.S. markets declined, markets worldwide reacted and declined as well. Most of the stock markets have been trading at their yearly or multi-year highs and even small events of uncertainty lead to fear among market players.

In the Indian stock market, partial sell-off was witnessed on Thursday. However, other emerging markets like Brazil and Turkey faced major declines. Indian stocks closed almost flat on Friday but investors have turned cautious after recent U.S. events.

Cotton on MCX settled down -0.75% at 21110 on profit booking after prices gained as the arrivals in the domestic market slow down in April. India's cotton imports during the current crop year (Oct-Sep) may jump 36% on strong rupee and poor quality of domestic cotton. Import of the fibre is expected to rise to 3 million bales in 2016-17 compared to 2.2 million bales cotton imported during 2015-16. Comparatively poor quality of domestic cotton is also responsible for increased imports despite higher output. The Cotton Advisory Board

Cardamom on MCX settled up 0.65% at 1185.6 taking positive cues from spot market on rising demand. Supply continued to show a shrinkage following the continued dry spell. Harvesting is nearly complete and hence arrivals are unlikely to pick up. Exporters and north Indian dealers have slowed down because of the higher prices. The production and export of cardamom, has been increasing over the past three years. Despite competition from Guatemala, the largest producer of cardamom, there are good days for cardamom sector in the country. India grew just over 20,000 tonnes of cardamom and exported around 4,700 tonnes in 2013-14. However, during 2015-16, 27,300 tonnes of cardamom were produced and over 6,000 tonnes were exported globally.