Bulls return to D-Street, bears still on prowl

Experts urge caution as FIIs continue selling spree, global trade volatility persists

- RamSangal

Bulls made a smart comeback to the Indian markets on Friday, with benchmark indices climbing nearly 2% with some help from short covering and selective buying. Alongside, fear gauge India Vix cooled by 6% to 20.11, after spiking 66% on Monday.

The upturn came on the back of rising hopes of a bilateral trade agreement between India and the US after the latter paused reciprocal tariffs for three months on all its trading partners, excluding China.

Significantly, bears didn't close out a significant number of their bearish positions, underscoring the uncertainty in the global economy and financial markets.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia and Europe tanked on Friday, while US stocks traded in the green at the time of writing. South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.5% and 3%, respectively, ahead of imminent trade negotiations with the US, and Germany's Dax and France's CAC settled 0.9% and 0.3% lower, continuing their slide from Thursday. However, both Dow Jones and the tech-focused Nasdaq traded around 1% higher at 10 pm IST, shrugging off an escalating trade war with China.

Back home, experts warned against getting hopes too high considering the volatile geopolitical scenario, even as foreign investors continued their selling spree, outstripping 2024's selling in less than four months of 2025.