Opening Bell : Markets likely to make cautious start ahead of Bihar election results
Indian equity markets are likely to make cautious start on Friday, amid weak global cues, as uncertainty persists over potential interest-rate cuts by Federal Reserve. Traders are likely to stay on the side-lines ahead of the Bihar election results. Additionally, sentiment may remain subdued due to continued selling pressure from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who were net sellers of shares worth Rs 383.68 crore.
Some of the key factors to be watched:
Moody's pegs India's growth at 7% for 2025: Moody's Ratings has projected India’s economy to grow at 7 per cent in 2025 and 6.5 per cent in the next year, supported by domestic and export diversification, amid a neutral-to-easy monetary policy stance.
India, Russia discuss ways to boost bilateral trade: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said that India has asked Russia to facilitate expedited listing of domestic establishments, and registration of marine and pharma products with a view to boost two-way trade.
India-Russia hold 26th Trade & Economic cooperation meeting: Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agrawal has met Vladimir Ilyichev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, for the 26th Meeting of the India-Russia Working Group on Trade & Economic Cooperation under the aegis of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC).
India, Canada discuss ways to promote bilateral trade, investments: India and Canada have held discussions on ways to promote bilateral trade and investments besides advancing collaborations in areas, including supply chain resilience, and health sectors.
India becoming self-reliant in MedTech, health research: Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel has said that India has emerged as a key player in the global health research landscape, becoming increasingly self-reliant in the MedTech and biomedical innovation sectors.
On the global front: The US markets ended in red on Thursday as lack of key economic data added more uncertainty about a rate cut by Federal Reserve in December. Asian markets trading mostly in red on Friday, following the negative cues from Wall Street overnight.
Back home, Indian equity benchmarks erased early gains and ended on a flat note in the volatile session on Thursday as market participants remained cautious ahead of the Bihar election outcome due Friday. Some concern also came as exchange data showed foreign institutional investors remained net sellers for the third day in a row and offloaded equities worth Rs 1,750.03 crore on Wednesday. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 12.16 points or 0.01% to 84,478.67 and the CNX Nifty was up by 3.35 points or 0.01% to 25,879.15.
Some of the important factors in trade:
Retail inflation dips to 0.25% in October: Retail inflation slipped to a multi-year low of 0.25 per cent in October, driven by the impact of the GST rate cut and subdued prices of vegetables and fruits. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation was 1.44 per cent in September and 6.21 per cent in October 2024.
Finance ministry asks banks to step up credit to MSMEs, agriculture sector: The finance ministry has asked state-owned banks to focus on accelerating credit to MSMEs and the agriculture sector while sustaining growth in low-cost deposits and strengthening risk management.
Cement industry’s stocks in watch: Rating agency Crisil has said that the Indian cement industry is going to add a grinding capacity of 160-170 million tonnes (MT) between FY26 and FY28 and invest around Rs 1.2 lakh crore in capex.
Above views are of the author and not of the website kindly read disclaimer
