Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for the second consecutive session on Monday primarily propelled by strong performances in the Healthcare, Telecom and IT sectors. Markets started the week on a firm note and stayed in green for whole day as traders took support with K V Kamath, chairman of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), expressed his confidence in India's potential to achieve the $5-trillion economy target within 18 months. Some optimism also came with data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) showing that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained net buyers in Indian stock markets for the fifth straight month. FPIs bought Indian stocks worth Rs 7,936 crore, Rs 11,631 crore, Rs 43,838 crore, Rs 47,148 crore, and Rs 46,618 crore in March, April, May, June, and July, respectively. Key gauges continued their trade in green in late afternoon deals, as investors braced for upcoming RBI policy meeting. Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) meeting is scheduled on August 8-10. There are expectations that the Reserve Bank is likely to continue with the pause on the key interest rate at its upcoming monetary policy review. Traders took note of report that the number of income tax returns filed between April-June 2023-24 nearly doubled to over 1.36 crore over the previous year. As per the comparative statistics of ITR filing available on the I-T e-filing portal, over 70.34 lakh tax returns were filed in April-June 2022-23. Meanwhile, with an aim to review the progress of talks on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), high-level meetings between India and the European Union (EU) will be held this month. The EU officials are coming for the G20 trade ministers meeting this month in Jaipur. There is a high-level meeting at the minister level on August 26 in the national capital between India and the EU. The G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting, under India's G20 Presidency, is scheduled at Jaipur on August 24-25. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 232.23 points or 0.35% to 65,953.48 and the CNX Nifty was up by 80.30 points or 0.41% to 19,597.30.

The US markets ended higher on Monday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling over 400 points, as traders shrugged off last week's poor start to the month of August. However, traders were waiting for Thursday's consumer price index. The inflation reading will play a key role in the Federal Reserve's September interest-rate decision. Markets are pricing in a 86.5% probability the central bank holds the headline interest rate steady. The probability of a 25 basis point increase is 13.5%. In the stock specific developments, Amgen shares climbed about 4 percent. Boeing rallied nearly 3 percent, and Johnson & Johnson gained 2.5 percent. Alphabet shares gained 2.7 percent, and Meta Platforms advanced 1.8 percent. United Health, Caterpillar, Nike, Walmart, McDonalds, IBM, Visa, P&G, Merck, American Express and Coca-Cola advanced 0.8 to 1.6 percent. Berkshire Hathaway shares gained about 2.5 percent after the company reported record quarterly operating profit. However, Apple Inc. shares drifted down 1.7 percent, continued to be weighed down by the drop in revenues in the latest quarter. The company's earnings, but, beat Street estimates.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday on stronger dollar. A stronger dollar weighed on oil prices, as investors await cues from China's trade balance figures and inflation readings from the United States and China due this week. China's trade balance figures on Tuesday and inflation data due on Wednesday will give clues to the country's recovery trajectory. The U.S. consumer price inflation report for July is slated to be released on Thursday and the producer price inflation report on Friday as investors seek further clarity on the path of inflation and the health of the world's largest economy. Benchmark crude oil futures for September delivery fell $0.88 or about 1.1 percent to settle at $81.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery dropped $0.90 or 1 percent to settle at $85.34 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended higher against dollar on Monday tracking positive domestic equities. Traders took support with data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) showing that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained net buyers in Indian stock markets for the fifth straight month. FPIs bought Indian stocks worth Rs 7,936 crore, Rs 11,631 crore, Rs 43,838 crore, Rs 47,148 crore, and Rs 46,618 crore in March, April, May, June, and July, respectively. On the global front, dollar rose on Monday after a mixed U.S. jobs report on Friday sent the U.S. currency to a one-week low, with market focus turning to inflation data from the world's two largest economies due this week. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.75 (Provisional), stronger by 6 paise from its previous close of 82.81 on Friday.

The FIIs as per Monday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8613.40 crore against gross selling of Rs 8547.01 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 706.69 crore with gross sales of Rs 417.43 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 13.69 crore against gross selling of Rs 27.80 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Monday with financials, consumer services and industrial stocks pacing the gainers ahead of key inflation readings. Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday as investors awaited key inflation readings from the U.S. and China. Chinese trade data for July is also awaited later in the day. Indian markets ended higher on Monday with marginal gains amid weak cues from Asia and Europe. Today, domestic markets are likely to get negative start amid mixed global cues. Traders likely to remain on sidelines ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's MPC meeting to begin later in the day. Outcome of the meeting will be on August 10. The central bank is expected to maintain a status quo on the repo rate despite the recent substantial rise in the prices of vegetables, cereals, and pulses in the country. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 1,892.77 crore on August 07. Traders will be concerned as the team, led by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of Cambridge, UK, found that India's sovereign credit rating could be downgraded due to the impact of climate change and the rise in temperature volatility by as early as the 2030s. It added deferring green investments will increase costs of borrowing for nations, which will translate into higher costs of corporate debt. Traders may take note of report that the government think-tank Niti Aayog is looking at tax-related issues, including inverted duty structure in three sectors of engineering, leather, and textiles. The issues are likely to be taken up with higher authorities for their resolution to promote the growth of these sectors. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has laid out its reform agenda for the ongoing financial year, proposing measures around digital assurance of financial statements, making e-voting more accessible, limiting risks in derivatives, a new pricing discovery mechanism for delisting, and greater disclosures for unlisted companies under a conglomerate. IT stocks will be in limelight after reports that top companies such as TCS, Infosys and HCL Tech are looking to hire 40 percent less this fiscal. Shares of state-run banks are likely to be in focus with a private report that the aggregate net profit more than doubled to Rs 34,418 crore in Q1 owing to treasury gains and healthy growth in net interest income (NII), backed by strong credit offtake. There will be some reaction in gaming industry stocks with a private report that the recently proposed 28 per cent goods and services tax (GST) on online games involving real money will not impact the taxation on e-sports, such as FIFA and League of Legends, or leading titles on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms.

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

• Adani Enterprises has disposed off its 100% stake in Natural Growers, a WoS of the Company on August 05, 2023 to Samarpratap Agrotech.
• NTPC is planning to raise up to Rs 12,000 crore through the issuance of bonds/debentures on a private placement basis in the domestic market for capex, working capital and general corporate purposes. 
• Bharti Airtel has launched Airtel Xstream AirFiber, its fixed wireless access offering, on 5G for consumers in Delhi and Mumbai. 
• Reliance Industries' subsidiary -- Reliance Jio Infocomm has received a $2.2 billion fund support from the Swedish export credit agency to finance equipment for the 5G rollout.