Opening Bell : Benchmarks likely to make negative start on Friday
Indian equity markets are likely to make negative start on Friday following the announcement of a fuel price hike amid the US-Iran war. Traders will also keep an eye on the outcomes of the second day of the high-stakes meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, downside may be limited as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers on May 14, 2026, with a net inflow of Rs 187 crore.
Some of the key factors to be watched:
Goyal calls for aligning standards, customs procedures between India and Africa to boost bilateral trade: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has pitched for aligning standards and customs procedures between India and Africa to boost bilateral trade.
ECB filings halve to $5.43 billion in March: The RBI said foreign borrowing filings by companies and lenders halved to $5.43 billion in March amid financial market volatilities following the West Asia conflict.
Regulators discuss ways to enhance financial sector resilience amid geopolitical frictions: Financial sector regulators have discussed key global and domestic macroeconomic developments and ways to enhance resilience through better coordination amid geopolitical frictions.
India's EV battery demand to grow 10 times to 200 GWh by 2032: Industry body Indian Energy Alliance (IESA) said India's electric vehicle (EV) battery demand is projected to grow 10 times from 20 GWh in 2025 to 200 GWh by 2032.
Gold and jewellery stocks will be in focus: The report said that the utilisation of concessional duty quota for gold imports from the UAE under a free trade agreement with India has remained modest.
Global front: US markets closed in green on Thursday as the artificial intelligence trade came back into focus and after President Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, began a high-stakes US-China summit. Asian markets are trading in red on Friday despite broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight.
Back home, rising for second consecutive session, Indian equity benchmarks ended over a percent higher on Thursday, driven by value buying in Telecom, Healthcare and Metal shares amid optimism surrounding the ongoing US-China talks. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 789.74 points or 1.06% to 75,398.72 and the CNX Nifty was up by 277.00 points or 1.18% to 23,689.60.
Some of the important factors in trade:
India targets $1 trillion goods and services exports this year: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked for taking the country's goods and services exports to $1 trillion this fiscal year. He said that taking from $863 billion to $1 trillion needs $137 billion, which is a 16-17 per cent growth.
April sees sharp acceleration in WPI inflation amid massive jump in fuel prices: India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation accelerated further in the month of April 2026 to 8.30% as compared to 3.88% in March 2026, due to a sharp rise in the prices of crude petroleum, natural gas and mineral oils amid geopolitical conflict in West Asia affecting supply chains through the Strait of Hormuz.
Govt approves Rs 37,500 crore incentive to promote coal gasification projects: The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs 37,500-crore incentive scheme to promote coal gasification projects, aimed at boosting clean energy production and reducing dependence on forex-guzzling imports.
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