The Indian stock markets witnessed profit-taking on Friday amid persistent FII fund outflows, lack of clarity on the future impact of US sanctions on Russia, undue speculation about President Trump’s proposed meeting with Xi Jinping in South Korea next week, and disinformation on the availability of comparatively cheaper crude in the Middle East.

Snapping its six-day winning streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex lost 344.52 points to settle at 84,211.88. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 96.25 points to 25,795.

“Reliance is reportedly rushing to get its orders of battery components out of China ahead of new export curbs as concerns mount worldwide about how Beijing intends to enforce its widening export control regime. The market trend is not the beginning of a long-term decline. The US sanctions on Russian oil did not create panic among Indian investors, and the overall market-sentiment reflects sound macros rather than rampant speculation and unsustainable leverage. Though the import bill is expected to increase, Indian importers–public and private sectors- are all set to sharply cut imports of Russian oil to comply with new US sanctions on top Russian producers,” president of a leading stocking broking firm told the FPJ Money.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s comments on the much-anticipated BTA with the US that “India will not rush into signing any trade agreements and will reject conditions from countries that restrict its trading choices” strengthened the investor-confidence. India is actively negotiating a long-pending free trade agreement with the European Union.

According to Dr VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments, a US-China trade deal is imminent, and the US doesn't have a strong bargaining power with China which has huge leverage in rare earth minerals and magnets. This will force the US to climb down from its unrealistic tough tariff stance. 

The market, which had opened strongly on Thursday reacting to the news of an imminent interim trade deal between India and US, lost steam midway and completely fizzled out during the last hour. The positive news regarding the trade deal was not confirmed by the Indian side.