Indian equity benchmarks erased initial losses to end higher on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and maintained policy stance at 'neutral'. Markets made a negative start amid ongoing foreign fund outflows and weak global cues. However, in the last hour of trade, indices recovered and closed higher as traders took support from the RBI’s upward revision of its GDP growth forecast for the first quarter of the next fiscal year to 6.9%.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India-US trade agreement in final stages: Traders took some support from External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s statement that the historic India–US trade agreement is in the final stages of detailing and will be completed very soon.

India-EU FTA to provide better access to European markets for Indian auto component firms: Sentiments remained upbeat as Icra said India-EU deal is expected to reshape competitive dynamics and market access on both sides while providing better access to European markets for Indian auto and component exports, aiding the sector's long-term growth prospects.

India's imports from China dip in multiple sectors in 2024-25: Traders took note of Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada's statement that India's imports from China have declined in multiple sectors such as fertilisers, chemicals, iron and steel and man-made yarn in 2024-25.

On the global front: European equity markets were trading mostly in red amid uncertainty about geopolitical and trade conflicts. Asian markets ended mostly in red following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight.  

The BSE Sensex ended at 83580.40, up by 266.47 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 82925.35 and 83612.12. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 2.05%, Telecom up by 0.91%, Power up by 0.64%, Realty up by 0.63%, and Energy up by 0.45%, while IT down by 1.41%, Healthcare down by 0.50%, Auto down by 0.26%, TECK down by 0.24%, and PSU down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 5.24%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.44%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.63%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.88% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.55%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.77%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.69%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.27%, Eternal down by 1.12% and Trent down by 1.07% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have signed the terms of reference on February 05, 2025, officially beginning talks for a free trade agreement (FTA). The terms of reference (ToR) outline the scope and modalities of a proposed trade pact. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the agreement will help boost bilateral trade and investments between the two. He stated ‘The two trading partners have been trading amongst each other for over 5,000 years.’ He mentioned around 10 million Indians live and work in the GCC region.

Moreover, he stated ‘It is most appropriate that we now enter into a much stronger and robust trading arrangement which will enable a greater free flow of goods, services, bring predictability and stability to policy, help encourage a greater degree of investments.’ Further, he said that the agreement will also enhance food and energy security of the GCC nations, as well as India. While India is a leading global producer of food grains, GCC nations are oil and gas exporters.

The CNX Nifty ended at 25693.70, up by 50.90 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 25491.90 and 25703.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 5.03%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.33%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.96%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.31% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.76%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.39%, TCS down by 1.67%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.60%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.33% and Asian Paints down by 1.27% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 18.17 points or 0.22% to 8,220.00 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.69 points or 0.01% to 10,308.53, while Germany’s DAX gained 96.64 points or 0.39% to 24,587.70.