Indian share markets continued to surge in the previous session and touched record highs amid gains in international markets and continuous foreign fund inflows.

At the closing bell last week, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 184 points and the NSE Nifty finished higher by 54 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished up by 0.7% while S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 1%. Gains were largely seen in FMCG sector, realty sector and consumer durables' sector.

GDP Growth May Slow Down

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to grow at 6.5%during 2017-18 - a four year low. Data released Friday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed growth was lower than the 7.1% GDP growth in the previous financial year on account of slowdown in the agricultural and manufacturing output.

The advance estimate for Gross Value Added (GVA), the more closely watched indicator for growth, is estimated at 6.1% for 2017-18, down from 6.6%in the previous financial year.

T.C.A. Anant, chief statistician of India, said the lower-than-anticipated nominal GDP growth will lead to "marginal slippage" in the fiscal deficit target for 2017-18-from 3.24% of GDP estimated in the budget to 3.29%-assuming the government borrows what it budgeted for the year.

The lower growth will raise pressure on finance minister Arun Jaitley ahead of the February 1 budget to take steps to strengthen recovery even as he allocates more funds for key stakeholders ahead of elections next year.

Top Stocks to Watch Out

Exide Industries share price is expected to see some momentum today after the company launched premium car batteries under the sub-brand 'Epiq'. The battery comes with a six-year warranty and targets the high-end automotive segment. It will be available in full range for cars and SUVs.

As per a leading financial daily, Adani Power, JSW Energy and Tata Power have submitted bids to acquire a majority stake in GMR Infrastructures 1,370-mw power plant in Chhattisgarh. Adani Power share price closed 5% up in previous session.

Tata Steel share price is expected to be in limelight today after the company reported a marginal 1.2% drop in saleable steel production in the country to 3.24 million tonnes (MT) for the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal. However, the company's saleable steel output in India in April-December period of the ongoing fiscal increased to 9.23 MT (provisional).

In news from telecom sector, as per an article in The Economic Times, Idea Cellular-Vodafone India could see a whopping US$5 billion reduction in net debt through a mix of capital infusions and tower sales ahead of their mega merger. Idea share price surged 11% in previous trade.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) unleashed another price disruption in a heavily debt-riddled industry, wherein all existing tariff plans with 1GB data have been revised to offer either 50% more data or a Rs 50 discount. This move could hit the average revenue per user of rivals such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

L&T share price could see some action in today's trade after it was reported that the company's arm L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Ltd (LTHE) has signed an offshore contract for 'Bassein Development 3 Well Platform & Pipeline Project' with Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The deal is reportedly valued at approximately Rs 14.83 billion.

IPO Segment

As per an article in The Financial Express, IPO's in India saw inflows of about US$24 billion into Indian markets from local and overseas investors.

Year 2017 has seen the highest number of grossly oversubscribed issues. Latest to join the list of grossly oversubscribed issues is the IPO of Astron Paper and Board Mill Ltd which got subscribed by more than 243 times last week, and listed at a staggering 140% premium over issue price on BSE.

After such stellar response to IPOs in the current year, all focus and attention will shift to the major IPOs in the upcoming new year 2018 which includes IPOs of HDFC Asset Management Company, NSE and IRCTC to name a few.

However, The market euphoria is something similar to what was seen in 2007-08. When everyone around you is clamoring to get a piece of the IPO pie, it makes sitting tight difficult. And, why should you sit tight when stocks like Avenue Supermart lets you pocket a cool 100% gain from day 1 of the listing?

History suggests that these cases are few and far between. More than 70% of the IPOs listed in 2007 and 2008 are in the red, even today when the Sensex is at an all-time high.

This allows us to stay on the fence when it comes to investing in IPOs. But it doesn't make sense to completely ignore this space. For every Reliance Power - like issue, there have been issues like Maruti, TCS, and Jubilant Foodworks Ltd (with returns over 4,000%, 1,000% and 500% respectively) that have created immense wealth for shareholders. A merit-based selection primarily including valuation, business, and management quality is the logical way to go about it.

Rupee Continues to Surge

The rupee surged to a near three-year record on Friday as overseas investments flooded into India amid global dollar weakness. Expectations of a further rise in the rupee saw exporters selling dollars and speculators short-selling the American unit, fueling the trend. Meanwhile, India's foreign exchange reserves have risen to a record.

The rupee gained 0.05% to 63.38 per dollar at the close, a level it last touched on April 29, 2015, having strengthened to 63.32 during the day.

Bitcoin Stays Above US$16,000

Bitcoin prices jumped more than 13% on Friday to a high of US$17,178. That was still about 13% below its record high hit in mid-December.

Bitcoin market value has jumped considerably since it hit a low of US$11,600 across global exchanges with the price now averaging US$16,500 per BTC.

Global Markets Start New Year on Strong Footing

The Dow Jones jumped 221 points in previous trade, capping off its best four-day start to a year since 2003 and continuing a record-breaking run highlighted this week when it topped 25,000 for the first time.

Market Participants are aggressively buying stocks at the start of 2018. Optimism on Wall Street is being driven by a belief that a massive corporate tax cut will boost economic growth and help U.S. companies make more money.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets continued to rally and traded at or around multi-year highs, with Japan's benchmark index touching a 26-year high and the Hang Seng Index earlier hitting a fresh decade-high.

Oil Prices Rise

Oil prices fell on Friday, dropping from highs last seen in 2015, as soaring U.S. production undermined a 10% rally from December lows that was driven by tightening supply and political tensions in OPEC member Iran.