Opening Bell : Benchmarks likely to make flat-to-positive amid strong global cues
Indian equity markets are likely to make flat-to-positive start on Friday, amid strong cues from global. Traders are likely to take some support from renewed optimism surrounding U.S.-Iran talks aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East. However, cautiousness may come as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers on May 21, 2026, with a net outflow of Rs 1,891.21 crore.
Some of the key factors to be watched:
US firms commit over $60 billion investment in last 6 months: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said investment commitments from American companies in the last six months are estimated to exceed $60 billion, including major data centre investments by firms such as Amazon and Google.
US looking forward to trade pact with India: US Ambassador Sergio Gor said the US is looking forward to sealing the proposed bilateral trade agreement with India that will facilitate expanding market access, reduce barriers, and create greater certainty for businesses.
India’s unincorporated establishments surge to over 9 crore: Government survey showed that the number of unincorporated establishments in the non-agriculture sector has surged to over 9 crore, and employment under these firms crossed the 15-crore mark in the January-March quarter.
Sebi mulls changes to price discovery mechanism via call auction sessions for IPOs, re-listed stocks: Market regulator Sebi has proposed changes to the price discovery mechanism through call auction sessions for IPOs and re-listed stocks to improve price discovery and reduce artificial price suppression.
RBI to conduct Rs 1 lakh crore three-day VRR auction on May 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said that it will conduct a three-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction for a notified amount of Rs 1 lakh crore on May 22.
Global front: The US markets ended higher on Thursday, while Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Friday, as investors hoped for a Middle East peace deal on reports that an agreement between the US and Iran had been reached with Pakistani mediation and after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were ‘some good signs’ that a deal to end the war in Iran could be in sight.
Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally lower in a volatile day of trade on Thursday, surrendering their early gains, amid profit-taking in blue-chip stocks. Besides, exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,597.35 crore on Wednesday. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 135.03 points or 0.18% to 75,183.36 and the CNX Nifty was down by 4.30 points or 0.02% to 23,654.70.
Some of the important factors in trade:
US team may visit India for trade talks: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the US team is likely to visit India next month for trade talks with their counterparts. The Indian side visited Washington, DC, in April for an in-person round of meetings with their US counterparts to finalise the details of the interim pact and take forward the negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
Eight key infrastructure sectors’ output growth rises to 2-month high of 1.7% in April: The Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its latest data has showed that eight key infrastructure sectors’ output growth rose to a two-month high of 1.7 per cent in April 2026, supported by higher output of steel, cement and electricity.
India's private sector growth eases marginally in May 2026: The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI eased from final reading of 54.7 in April to 54.3 in May, while HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 58.9 in May from April’s final reading of 58.8.
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