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Indian equity markets are likely to make a flat-to-negative start on Friday, following weakness in global markets and ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia. Some cautiousness may come from foreign institutional investors, who were net sellers of shares worth Rs 4,205.56 crore on Thursday.

Some of the key factors to be watched: 

India-EU trade pact to be signed by end of this year: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India and the European Union (EU) have agreed to ink the free trade agreement by the end of this year. He said the pact will come into force in the first quarter of 2027.

India, Sri Lanka review progress made under bilateral defence cooperation plan: Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh met his Sri Lankan counterpart Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (retd), as the two sides reviewed the progress made under the bilateral defence cooperation plan and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen ties in areas of mutual interest.

Govt likely to introduce bill to enhance ease of doing biz for MSMEs in upcoming Monsoon session: The government plans to introduce a bill to enhance the ease of doing business for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and strengthen the mechanism for addressing delayed payments in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.

NITI Aayog charts 2047 roadmap to expand India's Bioeconomy to $2.6 trillion: The NITI Aayog in a report said India can scale its bioeconomy to $691 billion by 2035 and $2.6 trillion by 2047 with decisive, mission-mode execution. Bioeconomy is an economic model that uses renewable biological materials to produce food, energy, and industrial goods. 

Govt to replace Ordinance by introducing Income-tax (Amendment) Bill in Monsoon session: The government plans to introduce the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to replace the Ordinance effected to exempt foreign investors from income tax on interest earnings and capital gains from investment in G-secs.

Global front: The US markets closed in red on Thursday as a sell-off in technology stocks overshadowed a raft of solid earnings reports. Asian markets are trading in red on Friday following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks significantly pared their gains and ended flat on Thursday, as investors remained cautious amid geopolitical tensions and fluctuating crude oil prices. FII outflows and weak global market trends also weighed on domestic equities. However, softer than expected U.S. inflation eased rate concerns and offered downside support. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1.44 points to 77,186.87 and the CNX Nifty was down by 5.75 points or 0.02% to 24,072.75.    

Some of the important factors in trade:

Crisil warns of medium-term funding gap, pitches for corporate debt market development: Pitching for attention to the development of the corporate debt market, domestic rating agency Crisil has warned that the current state of the financial is most likely to create a 'funding gap' in the medium term, potentially obstructing economic growth.

India-UK FTA to provide boost to India's merchandise, services exports: Welcoming the implementation of the India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (India-UK FTA), the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has described it as a transformational milestone. It listed benefits of this FTA such as deepening of bilateral trade, enhancement in India's export competitiveness and new opportunities for exporters across sectors.  

India records current account surplus of $2.8 billion during April-May 2026: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) preliminary data has showed that India recorded a current account (net) surplus of $2.8 billion during April-May 2026, compared with a deficit of $4.1 billion in the corresponding period last year, mainly aided by higher inward remittances from abroad and a rise in services exports.

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