Indian equity markets are likely to make negative start on Friday, influenced by mixed cues from global markets. Traders are likely to adopt a cautious approach due to foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 2,133.69 crore on Thursday. However, losses could be capped as traders are likely to take some support from the India-UK trade deal.

Some of the key factors to be watched:

FTA game changer for trade, investment, services for India, UK: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is truly a game changer in trade, investment and services sectors. 

India, US presently engaged in active negotiations on Bilateral Trade Agreement: Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that the discussions between India and the US are aimed at adopting an integrated approach to further strengthen and deepen bilateral trade relations, including enhanced mutual market access, reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and closer integration of supply chains.

Union Home and Cooperation Minister unveils National Cooperation Policy, targets tripling sector’s GDP contribution by 2034: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah unveiled the long-awaited National Cooperation Policy, announcing ambitious plans to create a comprehensive cooperative ecosystem that will expand into emerging sectors like tourism, taxi services, insurance and green energy.

Government to come up with norms for 27% ethanol blending in petrol: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government will come up with norms for 27 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of August.

India-UK FTA excludes dairy products, edible oils, apples: India has protected the interest of domestic farmers by excluding dairy products, edible oils and apples in the free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK while securing zero duties on 95 per cent of agriculture and processed food items.

On the global front: The U.S. markets ended mostly in green on Thursday, as traders expressed optimism that the U.S. could secure additional trade deals with its remaining partners ahead of President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline.  Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday, as investors assess recent trade developments and global macroeconomic signals.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks traded under pressure on the weekly expiry day and ended over half percent lower on Thursday, amid profit-taking in blue-chip stocks and continuous foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,209.11 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 542.47 points or 0.66% to 82,184.17 and the CNX Nifty was down by 157.80 points or 0.63% to 25,062.10.   

Some of the important factors in trade:

A 10% rise in crude prices can lead to 0.20% rise in domestic inflation: A paper by RBI staffers release indicated that a 10 per cent increase in global crude oil prices can raise the domestic headline inflation by 0.20 per cent.

National highways construction pace in India slows to 29 km/day in FY25: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the pace of national highways (NHs) construction in India slowed to 29 km/day in the last fiscal (FY25). He said the pace of national highways construction stood at 34 km/day during 2023-24. 

India’s economic activities held up amidst geopolitical tensions, tariff policy uncertainties: An article on ‘State of the Economy’ in the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) July Bulletin has said that India’s economic activities held up during June-July amidst geopolitical tensions and tariff policy uncertainties.