Indian equity markets are likely to make a gap-up opening on Monday, amid fall in crude oil prices after Iran announced it would halt attacks, provided the US also maintains its pause in hostilities following nearly two weeks of intensified conflict.
Some of the key factors to be watched:
India engaged with US for negotiating trade pact: Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada has said that the government is studying all the developments and remains engaged with the US in the framework of negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. He noted that the government remains in continuous consultation with relevant stakeholders, including farmers, agricultural exporters, industry bodies, ministries/ departments and export promotion councils on issues related to import tariffs imposed by the US.
India, Israel conclude second round of trade pact negotiations: The Commerce Ministry said the second round of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement between India and Israel covering multiple issues such as trade in goods and services, rules of origin, technical barriers, intellectual property rights, customs procedures and trade facilitations has been concluded this week.
India's exports to UK may reach $115 billion by 2030 due to trade pact: Industry body Assocham said the implementation of the India-UK free trade agreement is expected to boost India's exports to Britain to $115 billion by 2030. The agreement came into force on July 15 this year.
US' 10% duty on India aimed at preserving tariff wall, not for tackling forced labour: Economic think tank GTRI said the 10 per cent additional import duty imposed by the US on several countries, including India, appears to be aimed at preserving the Trump administration's tariff wall rather than addressing an unproven forced labour issue in India.
India’s forex reserves jump $1.08 billion to $676.237 billion: The RBI data has showed that India’s forex reserves jumped by $1.08 billion to $676.237 billion during the week ended July 17. In the previous reporting week, the overall forex kitty had jumped by $964 million to $675.157 billion.
On the global front: The US markets ended mostly higher on Friday as gains in the Telecoms, Financials and Healthcare sectors led shares higher. Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday after the US and Iran paused strikes over the weekend after two ?weeks of attacks.
Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended around half percent lower on Friday, extending the losing streak for the fifth consecutive session, as investors remained cautious due to rising oil prices amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia and renewed concerns over US trade tariffs. Fresh foreign fund outflows and selling in Auto and Telecom stocks also dented market sentiment. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 331.62 points or 0.43% to 76,059.77 and the CNX Nifty was down by 102.15 points or 0.43% to 23,767.45.
Some of the important factors in trade:
India’s private sector activity witnesses slowest pace of expansion in July: India’s private sector activity in July witnessed the slowest pace of expansion since March 2022, amid intensified inflationary pressures. New orders rose further, but the pace of expansion receded to the weakest in close to four-and-a-half years and was moderate by historical standards.
India, Romania agree to boost bilateral trade, defence cooperation: India and Romania have agreed to double their bilateral trade over the next three years. The two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence, among other key areas of bilateral partnership.
Ind-Ra projects India's EV penetration to rise to 10-12% of total vehicle sales in FY27: India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said that India's electric vehicle (EV) market is entering a broader scale-up phase, with EV penetration expected to rise to 10-12 per cent of total vehicle sales in FY27, up from 8.5 per cent in FY26, led primarily by the growing adoption of electric two-wheelers (e-2Ws).
