India’s equity benchmarks are expected to open marginally lower on Friday, concluding a week marked by modest losses as profit-taking may counteract the improving outlook for corporate earnings and expectations of progress in India–US trade negotiations.
As of 8:05 a.m. IST, Gift Nifty futures were trading at 25,498.5 points, suggesting that the Nifty 50 will open close to Thursday’s close of 25,509.7. Both Nifty and Sensex have declined by approximately 0.8 percent this week, retreating after a 4.5 percent increase in October.
Asian markets also experienced declines, following a drop in Wall Street, which was influenced by a sell-off in artificial intelligence-related stocks amid rising economic uncertainty triggered by the ongoing US government shutdown.
According to analysts, Indian equities are undergoing profit-taking in the face of continued foreign outflows. Thursday marked the sixth consecutive session of net selling by foreign portfolio investors, who offloaded shares valued at 32.63 billion rupees ($371.24 million). In contrast, domestic institutional investors net purchased shares worth 52.84 billion rupees. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump commented that talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were progressing well and confirmed plans for a visit to India as trade negotiations continued.
Currently, India faces punitive tariffs of up to 50 percent on its exports to the US, with half of these duties imposed in response to its purchases of Russian oil. Notable individual stocks include pharmaceutical company Lupin, which may see gains after reporting a 73.3 percent increase in second-quarter profit due to strong demand for respiratory drugs. Similarly, Life Insurance Corporation of India, the country’s largest insurer, could also experience a rise following a report of increased quarterly profit and widened margins.
According to Jefferies, nearly 40 percent of Indian companies that have released quarterly results have experienced earnings upgrades, as noted in a review earlier this week.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
- GMM Pfaudler recorded a nearly three-fold increase in consolidated profit for the September quarter year-on-year.
- Mankind Pharma has experienced a fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline due to sales impacted by tax cuts.
- Apollo Hospitals fell short of second-quarter profit expectations following a reduction in admissions related to fewer seasonal illnesses.
- Amara Raja reported a profit exceeding expectations for the second quarter, driven by increased demand from tax cuts.
($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)
Published on November 7, 2025.
