Benchmarks likely to make cautious start on Wednesday

Indian equity markets are likely to make cautious start on Wednesday amid ongoing global tariff uncertainties. Sentiments may remain subdued amid outflows by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), as FIIs sold shares worth Rs 3,068.49 crore on Tuesday.

Some of the key factors to be watched: 

India, EU clinch landmark trade deal: India and the European Union have sealed a landmark free trade agreement - billed as the mother of all deals - to create a market of two billion people with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top EU leadership unveiling a transformative five-year agenda to largely leverage trade and defence in protecting the rules-based world order.

India blocks China WTO panel request on auto scheme: India has blocked China's request for the setting up of a dispute panel at the WTO in a case that Beijing has filed against New Delhi's incentive schemes for auto, battery and electric vehicles.

RBI to inject liquidity via Rs 1 lakh crore OMO: The Reserve Bank said that it will purchase government securities worth Rs 1 lakh crore and conduct a USD 10 billion buy/sell dollar-rupee swap auction to inject liquidity into the banking system.

India secures duty concessions for various agri products under FTA with EU: The Commerce Ministry has said that India has secured duty concessions for its agricultural exports under the free trade agreement with the European Union for various products, including processed foods, tea, coffee, spices, table grapes, sheep and lamb meat. 

India eyes critical minerals in Canada: Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that India is keen on investing in extraction of critical minerals in Canada and will mount a delegation soon to discuss joint collaboration in the sector.

On the global front: The US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as traders remained optimistic ahead of the release of earnings news from big-name tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Meta Platforms (META). Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday as traders remained cautious ahead of the monetary policy announcement from the US Fed later in the day.

Back home, in a volatile trading session, Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Tuesday buoyed by heavy buying in Metal and Basic Materials stocks, a firm trend in global markets and optimism over India-EU FTA. However, sustained selling by foreign portfolio investors and muted third-quarter corporate earnings growth capped upside in domestic equities. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 319.78 points or 0.39% to 81,857.48 and the CNX Nifty was up by 126.75 points or 0.51% to 25,175.40.  

Some of the important factors in trade:

India sees 73% surge in FDI Inflow in 2025: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that the FDI inflows to India in 2025 surged by 73 per cent to $47 billion, mainly due to large investments in services and manufacturing. 

India, EU successfully concludes negotiations for proposed free trade agreement: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said that India and the European Union (EU) have successfully concluded negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement and the deal has been finalised. 

India, Russia moving confidently to achieve $100 billion trade target by 2030: Ambassador of India to The Russian Federation, Vinay Kumar, has said that India and Russia are moving confidently to achieve a target of $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.