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Indian equity markets are likely to make a positive start on Monday tracking strong global cues amid renewed hopes of a US-China trade deal. Traders are likely to take some support from optimism surrounding the ongoing US-India trade negotiations. Additionally, sentiments may remain upbeat supported by fund inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who were net buyers of shares worth Rs 621.51 crore.

Some of the key factors to be watched:

Forex reserves jump by $4.49 billion to $702.28 billion: India's forex reserves increased by $4.49 billion to $702.28 billion for the week ended October 17, as the value of gold reserves rose further.

Goyal to visit Brussels for talks on India-EU trade pact: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels on October 27 for talks with his EU counterpart to give political impetus to the proposed trade pact, as the deadline to conclude negotiations nears.

Jaishankar, South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun discuss defence, semiconductors: The Indian External Affairs Minister met the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, Cho Hyun, and discussed cooperation in automotive, electronics, semiconductor, defence and shipbuilding sectors.

India needs significant hydrocarbon discoveries to meet future needs: Secretary of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, Pankaj Jain said that India urgently requires significant hydrocarbon discoveries to meet its future energy needs.

India’s leather industry counting on robust domestic market to offset US tariff hit: The Indian Leather Products Association (ILPA) said that India’s leather and leather goods exporters are staring at a 7-8 per cent fall in shipments in the 2025-26 fiscal, owing to the impact of steep US tariffs.

On the global front: The US markets ended in green on Friday following the release of a closely watched report on consumer price inflation that increased confidence the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Friday amid profit-taking in Banking and Healthcare shares and fresh foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,165.94 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Sentiment was further dampened after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India does not do trade agreements in a hurry or with a ‘gun to our head’. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 344.52 points or 0.41% to 84,211.88 and the CNX Nifty was down by 96.25 points or 0.37% to 25,795.15.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India's private sector activity eases to five-month low in October: India’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data report has showed that private sector activity in India continued to increase sharply in October, but growth lost momentum amid a slowdown in the service economy. The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index fell to 59.9 in October from 61.0 in September. 

India Inc's revenue likely to grown 5-6% on-year in July-September quarter: Crisil Intelligence, an arm of domestic rating agency Crisil, in its latest report has said that India Inc's revenue is likely to have grown a modest 5-6% on-year in the July-September quarter following underwhelming performance of the power, coal, information technology (IT) services and steel sectors. 

Talks between India, US for proposed trade agreement progressing: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that talks between India and the United States (US) for the proposed trade agreement are progressing, and expressed hope that both sides would work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future.

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