Indian equity markets are likely to make positive start on Thursday tracking a strong rally in global markets. Further, investors may take support from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who were net buyers of shares worth Rs 2,991.64 crore on Wednesday. 

Some of the key factors to be watched: 

India concludes 9 FTAs covering 38 nations: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India has concluded nine free trade agreements (FTAs), covering 38 nations, enabling the country's shipments to get preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global markets.

Geopolitical heat lifts inflation fears but RBI's repo rate hike unlikely: External member of RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Saugata Bhattacharya has said that chances of benchmark interest rate going up are negligible notwithstanding building up of inflationary pressure on account of geopolitical tensions. 

Revenue growth of India Inc comes at 12-quarter high in Q3FY26: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that private listed non-financial companies' revenue growth came at 10.1 per cent in the third quarter of FY26 (Q3FY26).

RBI to conduct Rs 25000 crore switch auction on March 2: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct a switch auction of government securities worth Rs 25,000 crore on March 2. This is the third switch auction announced by the RBI this month.

Sugar stocks will be in watch: Industry body Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said that India's sugar production has been revised down 5.57 per cent to 32.40 million tonne for the 2025-26 marketing year, citing lower yields in top producers Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

On the global front: The US markets ended in green on Wednesday as market leader Nvidia reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results, driven by 75% revenue growth in its core data center business. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. 

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their sharp intra-day gains and ended marginally higher on Wednesday, amid profit-taking. The initial strength tapered off as renewed tariff-focused comments from the US President reignited global trade concerns, limiting the day's gains. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 50.15 points or 0.06% to 82,276.07 and the CNX Nifty was up by 57.85 points or 0.23% to 25,482.50.     

Some of the important factors in trade:

Indian economy under revised series likely to grow at 8.1% in Q3FY26: A research report from State Bank of India's (SBI’s) Economic Research Department has showed that the Indian economy is likely to record a growth rate close to 8.1 per cent for Q3FY26 under the revised series with the new base year of 2022-23. 

India building trade bridges amid global uncertainty: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that despite global uncertainty, India is building bridges of trade, trust and transformation, and now enjoys preferential trade access to nearly two-thirds of global trade owing to a series of high-quality FTAs concluded under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.   

India, GCC ink pact for FTA negotiations to boost trade, investment: India and the six-nation bloc of Middle Eastern nations -- the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have inked the Joint Statement on the India-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and launched negotiations for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement.