India Hits the Pause Button: Markets Stall as Investors Brace for Big GDP Reveal and RBI Signals

Image taken from groww.in

The Indian equity market ended Friday’s session in a quiet, almost motionless drift, as traders chose to secure profits and wait for clearer economic cues before making their next move. With the country’s Q2 GDP numbers set to arrive and global markets offering no strong direction, sentiment remained cautious rather than celebratory.

By the closing bell, the Sensex inched down by just 14 points to settle at 85,706.67, and the Nifty 50 slipped a modest 13 points to finish at 26,202.95. The broader market showed a similar pattern of hesitation—the BSE Midcap index barely moved with a slight decline, while Smallcaps saw a mild pullback as well. It was a day defined less by selling pressure and more by investors simply stepping aside.

According to Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President of Research at Religare Broking Ltd., this quiet finish doesn’t tell the full story of the week. He explained that Indian equities just wrapped up their third straight week of gains, pushing into fresh all-time highs thanks to supportive global cues and confidence in India’s domestic economic setup. Although the market experienced bouts of profit-taking early on, a strong rebound midweek brought buyers firmly back into the picture and allowed major indices to close the week in the green.

Looking ahead, Mishra noted that the medium-term backdrop remains healthy. He pointed to rising expectations of global rate cuts and India’s improving growth momentum as strong pillars supporting the overall outlook. However, he also cautioned that the next few sessions may not be smooth, given the packed macroeconomic calendar and the looming RBI policy announcement.

His advice for investors is straightforward: use market dips as opportunities, especially around key support zones, and lean toward large-cap names for stability while volatility remains elevated. For active traders, he suggests maintaining trailing stop-losses on winning trades and staying aligned with sectors that continue to attract sustained institutional interest.

In short, the market may be pausing now—but the bigger trend still points upward.