Opening Bell : Benchmarks likely to make negative start amid weak global cues
Indian equity markets are likely to make negative start on Wednesday, amid weak global cues. Traders are likely to remain cautious amid re-escalation of the Middle East conflict following US President Donald Trump has threatened Iran with a ‘big hit’ if no deal is reached soon. Additionally, sentiments may remain downbeat as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers on May 19, 2026, with a net outflow of Rs 2,457.49 crore.
Some of the key factors to be watched:
Ind-Ra projects GDP growth to slow to 6.7% in FY27 on geopolitical uncertainty: India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has projected India's economic growth to decelerate to 6.7 per cent in the current fiscal year on slowdown in demand and supply and retail inflation is expected to stay within the RBI's tolerance band at 4.4 per cent despite recent fuel price hikes.
India-EU trade pact to help boost domestic auto manufacturing: Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Darpan Jain said that the India-EU free trade agreement will help attract greater investments into India and boost automobile manufacturing in the country
PM Modi discusses clean energy, digitalisation, trade with Nordic counterparts: The report said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral ties in areas such as clean energy, trade, sustainability and digitalisation during separate meetings with his counterparts from Iceland, Finland and Denmark.
Goyal asks industry to turn global uncertainties into opportunities, avoid panic: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that Indian businesses should turn the current global economic uncertainties into opportunities for growth and not panic over the situation.
RBI proposes banks to disclose detailed information on capital, risks under Basel Pillar 3: The Reserve Bank has proposed a revised disclosure framework for banks under Basel III norms, requiring lenders to disclose and publish more granular information on capital adequacy, leverage, liquidity and risk exposure to improve transparency and market discipline.
Global front: The US markets ended lower on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury yields hit multi-year highs on growing concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates and economic growth. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Wednesday, tracking negative cues from Wall Street overnight.
Back home, Indian equity benchmarks pared all intraday gains and ended marginally lower on Tuesday due to fag-end selling in Metal, banking and Telecom stocks, as concerns rose over the rupee hitting a new record low against the US dollar. Elevated global crude prices amid geopolitical uncertainties also impacted market sentiment. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 114.19 points or 0.15% to 75,200.85 and the CNX Nifty was down by 31.95 points or 0.14% to 23,618.00.
Some of the important factors in trade:
ICRA lowers India’s GDP growth estimate to 6.2% for FY27 amid elevated crude oil prices: Citing elevated crude oil prices driven by the ongoing West Asia crisis, rating agency ICRA has lowered India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth estimate (at constant 2022-23 prices) to 6.2% for fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) from the earlier estimate of 6.5%.
Piyush Goyal calls for domestic manufacturing boost to reduce import dependence: With an aim of reducing import dependence, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked the industry to identify imported goods and explore opportunities to manufacture them domestically.
India should invest at least 2% of GDP to strengthen R&D ecosystem: The Niti Aayog in its report has said that India should significantly enhance its investment in research and development from the current level of 0.64% to at least 2% of GDP in the next four to five years to strengthen the country's R&D ecosystem.
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