Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-negative start on Friday and soon extended their losses to trade with cut of around 0.30% each in early deals. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of anticipated trade deal between India and US. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said negotiations between India and the U.S. are underway to iron out pending issues for a trade deal. Some cautiousness came as ratings firm CRISIL indicated that India's goods exports are likely to face some headwinds in fiscal 2026, as reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US are seen to aggravate this. Foreign fund outflows also dented domestic sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the second consecutive session on July 17, offloading equities worth Rs 3,694 crore. In stock specific development, Axis Bank slumped after asset quality issues and slower loan growth weighed on its Q1 earnings.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly higher, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react to upbeat economic data from the U.S. and Japan that renewed optimism about the global economy. Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food but includes energy, rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in June, marking a slowdown for the first time since February, following a 3.7 percent increase in the previous month. Countries are also hustling to strike trade deals with the US as the August 1 deadline for pausing of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ is less than a fortnight away.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82012.93, down by 246.31 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 81938.80 and 82334.75. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.14%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.62%, Realty up by 0.47%, Basic Materials up by 0.23%, Oil & Gas up by 0.16% and Auto up by 0.15%, while Bankex down by 0.87%, TECK down by 0.36%, Telecom down by 0.35%, FMCG down by 0.30% and Healthcare down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.41%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.66%, Power Grid up by 0.44% and Tata Motors up by 0.24%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.91%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.59%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.06%, Eternal down by 0.81% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings firm CRISIL in its latest report has said that India's goods exports are likely to face some headwinds in fiscal 2026, as reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US are seen to aggravate this. It said with the tariff hikes expected to come into effect from August, as India and the US are negotiating on a bilateral trade agreement and a key monitorable.

The report said global growth is expected to slow down to 2.9 per cent in 2025 from 3.3 per cent. Growth in the US, India's largest export destination, is projected to slow to 1.7 per cent from 2.8 per cent. Accordingly, India's merchandise trade is expected to come under pressure this fiscal. 

However, the current account deficit (CAD) is expected to stay in the safe zone at 1.3 per cent of the GDP in the current financial year. The surplus in services trade, a robust flow of remittances is expected to cushion the CAD. Meanwhile, the World Trade Organisation forecasts a 0.2 per cent decline in the volume of merchandise trade in 2025 compared to 2.9 per cent in 2024.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25045.20, down by 66.25 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 25026.20 and 25144.60. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.57%, Tata Steel up by 1.34%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.49% and Power Grid up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.91%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.61%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.56%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.94% and Eternal down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted jumped 256.2 points or 1.11% to 23,369.48, Hang Seng surged 177.69 points or 0.73% to 24,676.64, Jakarta Composite gained 97.87 points or 1.34% to 7,384.89, Straits Times rose 22.63 points or 0.54% to 4,184.06 and Shanghai Composite was up by 12.07 points or 0.34% to 3,528.90. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 78.9 points or 0.2% to 39,822.29 and KOSPI was down by 17.22 points or 0.54% to 3,175.07.