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Indian equity benchmarks are likely to get cautious start amid mixed global cues and foreign fund outflows. Traders will be concerned amid prevailing uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies. There will be some volatility in the markets ahead of Futures & Options (F&O) expiry later in the day.

Some of the key factors to be watched:

Sustain foreign fund outflows: The Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling on fifth day in a row, as they sold equities worth Rs 3529 crore on February 25.

World Bank bullish on India, reaffirms confidence in its economic potential: The World Bank has expressed strong confidence in the Indian economy and appealed to all to come and invest in the country.

India has lower exposure to US tariffs than peers in APAC region: Moody's Ratings has said India has a lower overall exposure to the US relative to others in the APAC region, although certain sectors such as food, textiles and pharmaceutical products face risks. Moody's said most companies in its rated portfolio are domestic-focused with limited exposure to the US market.

Retail sector stocks will be in focus: The 58th Retail Business Survey of Retailers Association of India (RAI) showed that India’s retail sector witnessed a 5 per cent sales growth in the retail sector from January 2025 compared to the same time period last year.

Renewable energy stocks will be in limelight: Global Energy Monitor (GEM) in a report said India must double its annual solar and wind capacity additions over the next five years to meet its 2030 clean-energy targets, despite record additions in 2024.

On the global front: The US markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday ahead of quarterly results from Nvidia, whose positive outlook could set the tone for the artificial intelligence sector. Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday as investors parsed the latest tariff announcements from US President Donald Trump and earnings from Nvidia Corp. failed to impress investors.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks erased all of their initial gains and ended flat on Tuesday, as investors continued to stay risk averse as global uncertainty coupled with strong FII selling kept the mood sluggish. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 147.71 points or 0.20% to 74,602.12, and the CNX Nifty was down by 5.80 points or 0.03% to 22,547.55.

Some of the important factors in trade:

Rupee plunge to a new low: The rupee fell sharply by 46 paise to trade at 87.19 (provisional) against the US dollar due to month-end dollar demand by importers amid uncertainty over US trade tariffs.

U.S. treasury yields fall: U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower as investors looked to a busy week ahead, with a flurry of economic data due including a key inflation reading and insights on housing.

Sales of listed private non-financial companies rise 8% during Q3:2024-25: The RBI’s data has showed that the listed private non-financial companies logged 8.0 per cent (y-o-y) sales growth during Q3:2024-25 as compared with 5.4 per cent in the previous quarter and 5.5 per cent in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

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