For the week ahead, stock markets could see fresh declines as investors react to disappointing fourth-quarter results by IT heavyweight Infosys, Bhamre said. Index heavyweight HDFC Bank is also set to declare earnings on Saturday, which would drive stock prices.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to Rs 250 crore with a face value of Rs 2 per share and an Offer For Sale of up to 9,000,000 equity shares by existing shareholders.

“Cement as a sector that will clearly benefit from the infrastructure push that we have been long waiting for. JK Cement, Heidelberg Cement, JK Lakshmi among smallcaps or even Ramco Cements are looking very attractive. Among the larger companies, UltraTech is also looking good. In case of fertilisers, UPL, Deepak Fertilisers and even Jubilant Ingrevia are the names we are looking at now.”

The brokerage said the ongoing correction is an opportunity to buy heavyweight stocks of the sector at relatively better entry levels even though margins are likely to remain at risk in the near term.

Bitcoin’s struggles have shined a spotlight on so-called altcoins like Cardano, Avalanche and Solana, which have outperformed it recently.

Elevated crude oil prices put pressure on India’s trade deficit as the country imports more than 80 per cent of its oil requirements.

Titan Company, where Rakesh and Rekha Jhunjhunwala held a 5.1 per cent stake as of December 31, has fallen 3 per cent so far this month.

Traders were waiting for a European Central Bank meeting later in the day, to see if it was as hawkish as others have been.

In a media interaction on Wednesday, Andrade, chief investment officer of Old Bridge Capital Management, said equities may not take a big hit as central banks prepare to increase the interest rate to combat inflation.

"For life insurers, APE (annual premium equivalent) growth may be moderate with modest VNB (value of new business) margin unlike the third quarter, which witnessed stable margins for insurance companies.