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Indian equity markets are likely to make negative start on Monday, amid mixed cues from global markets. Investors may remain cautious following comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick calling August 1, 2025 the hard deadline for countries to start paying tariffs, and added that nothing stops countries from talking to U.S. after August 1. Additionally, market participants may stay on the sidelines ahead of the release of India's infrastructure output data for June.

Some of the key factors to be watched:

Forex reserves drop by $3 billion to $696.67 billion: The RBI said that India's forex reserves dropped by $3.06 billion to $696.67 billion during the week ended July 11.

PM Modi to visit Britain, Maldives this week: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a four-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives  to shore up overall bilateral ties and formalise the landmark India-UK free trade deal that is set to pave the way for doubling two-way trade by 2030 from current $60 billion. 

India to attract $100 billion in FDI from EFTA countries: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India remains a key destination for overseas investments and is likely to attract $100 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) from the four-nation European bloc European Free Trade Association (EFTA). 

Automobile exports from India rise 22% in Apr-June: Industry body SIAM said that Automobile exports from India rose 22 per cent year-on-year in the April-June quarter driven by record shipment of passenger vehicles and robust growth in segments like two-wheelers and commercial vehicles.

Electronics exports jump 47% in Q1: The commerce ministry data showed that the US, UAE, and China have emerged as the top three export destinations for India's electronics sector during April-June quarter of 2025-26. During April-June this fiscal, the exports rose by 47 per cent to $12.41 billion.

On the global front: The U.S. markets ended mostly in red on Friday, as traders paid no heed to a report from the University of Michigan showing a modest improvement by U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of July. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday, as investors assessed key policy signals from China.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended over half percent lower on Friday, marking their second straight day of losses due to foreign fund outflows and selling in banking shares after a muted start to the quarterly earnings season. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 501.51 points or 0.61% to 81,757.73 and the CNX Nifty was down by 143.05 points or 0.57% to 24,968.40. 

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India's goods exports likely to face some headwinds in fiscal 2026: Ratings firm CRISIL in its latest report has said that India's goods exports are likely to face some headwinds in fiscal 2026, as reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US are seen to aggravate this. 

Goyal urges missions to resolve export barriers: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has urged Indian Missions abroad to help address trade barriers faced by local exporters in their respective countries. 

India and US trying to iron out issues on proposed trade deal: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has indicated that negotiations between India and the US are underway to iron out pending issues for a trade deal.

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