Indian equity markets began Friday’s trade on a sluggish note, with the BSE Sensex slipping nearly 100 points around 9:15 AM, while the NSE Nifty hovered close to the 24,730 mark. The cautious sentiment stems from anticipation around the Reserve Bank of India’s upcoming monetary policy decision. The central bank’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to announce its stance on the repo rate later in the day. Market analysts, including Dr. Vijay Kumar of Geojit Financial Services, suggest a possible 25 basis point cut, though investors remain uncertain about the outcome.

The RBI’s interest rate decision is one of three major factors influencing market direction today. Other key drivers include the status of US-China trade negotiations and foreign institutional investors’ (FIIs) positioning in the Indian market. In early trading, selective gains were observed in certain sectors. Shares of IndusInd Bank rose by 1.11%, Tata Steel by 0.84%, and NTPC by 0.52%. Adani Ports and Power Grid also recorded marginal upticks of 0.24% and 0.22% respectively.

Global stock markets offered mixed signals. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.31%, Topix added 0.45%, and South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.49%. Meanwhile, Australia’s ASX 200 showed marginal movement with a 0.03% increase. Earlier in the week, Indian markets had rebounded on Wednesday after three consecutive sessions of decline, with notable support from Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank, helping Sensex climb 261 points and Nifty by 78 points.