Indian equity benchmarks settled with decent gains on Monday as a fall in oil prices and buying in Capital Goods, Power and Utilities stocks boosted investor sentiment. After making cautious start, key indices gained from strength to strength, as traders took encouragement with Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that India is unlikely to be impacted by any adverse developments in Taiwan. The Governor said Taiwan accounts for only 0.7 per cent of India's overall trade and the capital flows from the island are also not very high. Some optimism also came as data with depositories showed after turning net buyers last month, foreign investors continued their positive stance on Indian equities and invested over Rs 14,000 crore in the first week of August amid softening of the dollar index. This was way higher than the net investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in entire July. Sentiments remained up-beat in late afternoon deals, taking support from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves rose by $2.315 billion to $573.875 billion for the week ended July 29 on the back of robust capital inflows in the equities markets and strengthening of rupee from the record low.  Traders took some support with industry body FICCI stating that the Reserve Bank of India has maintained consistency in the recent monetary policy statement by focusing on the withdrawal of accommodation as its stance to contain inflation. It said inflation has been over the comfort range of the Central Bank, however, the recent moderation in global commodity prices should hopefully offer some respite going ahead. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that states should develop a clear time-bound road map for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and focus on promoting trade, tourism and technology. He also asked for collective action to increase Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 465.14 points or 0.80% to 58,853.07 and the CNX Nifty was up by 127.60 points or 0.73% to 17,525.10.

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as traders looked ahead to the release of a highly anticipated reading on US consumer price inflation. The report is expected to show consumer prices edged up by 0.2 percent in July after jumping by 1.3 percent in June. The annual rate of growth is expected to slow to 8.7 percent from a four-decade high of 9.1 percent. Technology stocks helped to lead markets lower, as reflected by the sharp decline by the Nasdaq, which continued to give back ground after reaching a three-month intraday high in early trading on Monday. Within the tech sector, semiconductor stocks turned in some of the worst performances, resulting in a 4.6 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The sell-off by semiconductor came following a warning from Micron Technology (MU), with the memory chip maker tumbling by 3.7 percent. Micron warned revenue for the current quarter may come in at or below the low end of its previous guidance, citing macroeconomic factors and supply chain constraints. Computer hardware stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index slumping by 2.2 percent after ending the previous session at a two-month closing high. Outside of the tech sector, airline stocks moved sharply lower, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 3.6 percent. The index also ended the previous session at its best closing level in two months. Housing, biotechnology, and retail stocks are moved, while energy stocks bucked the downtrend despite a decrease by the price of crude oil.  

Crude oil futures ended lower on Tuesday as concerns about outlook for energy demand outweighed Russia's decision to halt oil flows along the southern portion of the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Meanwhile, traders shifted focus to Iran nuclear deal talks. The revival of the nuclear accord would open the door for Iran to resume oil exports. The European Union said on Monday that it has put forward a final text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Benchmark crude oil futures for September delivery fell $0.26 or 0.3 percent to settle at $90.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery dropped $0.54 or 0.55 percent to settle at $96.11 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Monday due to demand for American currency from banks and importers. Traders took note of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the unacceptably high inflation trending around 7 per cent mark led the RBI to hike rates by an aggressive 0.50 per cent. Meanwhile, Governor Shaktikanta Das has said India is unlikely to be impacted by any adverse developments in Taiwan. He said Taiwan accounts for only 0.7 per cent of India's overall trade. On the global front, dollar fell on Monday, as currency markets pulled back on their initial reaction and waited for Wednesday's inflation data to give more clues about the Federal Reserve's next steps. Finally, the rupee ended at 79.63 (provisional), weaker by 39 paisa from its previous close of 79.24 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 8402.66 crore against gross selling of Rs 6402.75 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2938.01 crore against gross selling of Rs 2180.15 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 2.03 crore against gross selling of Rs 187.29 crore.

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as a downbeat outlook from another giant chipmaker added to recession fears, with many traders unwilling to make any risky bets before Wednesday's pivotal inflation reading. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Wednesday following a Wall Street retreat and caution ahead of US inflation data. Indian markets closed at a near four-month highs on Monday. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) were closed on Tuesday on account of Muharram. Today, markets are likely to make negative start amid weakness in global peers. However, some respite may come as a private report stated that the Indian economy is likely to grow by 7.1% in the current fiscal on the back of steady performance by services, manufacturing and the farm sector. It added that the government investment will play a crucial role in boosting the growth rate. Some support will come as finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated measures to promote the rupee as a preferred currency for international trade settlement, which will boost exports. Besides, Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said negotiations between India and the UK for a free trade agreement (FTA) is moving at a fast pace, allaying concerns that the evolving political situation in Britain may slow down the pace of talks. Traders may take note of Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran's statement that the private sector needs to invest more in technology and research and development, and pay the MSME suppliers on time to help the economy. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry's arm DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of a kind of cutting tool from China, for five years, to protect the domestic industry from cheap inbound shipments. There will be some buzz in the insurance industry stocks with Irdai data showing that new business premiums (NBP) of life insurance companies jumped 91 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in July, thanks to strong premium growth of state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). According to data released by the Irdai, life insurers reported NBP of Rs 39,078.90 crore in July. Banking sector stocks will be in focus with report that all the 12 public sector banks earned a cumulative profit of about Rs 15,306 crore, registering a 9.2 per cent growth annually, despite poor showing by large lenders like SBI and PNB. There will be some reaction in telecom industry stocks as Minister of State for Telecom Devusinh Chauhan said the long-awaited high-speed 5G services are expected to be rolled out in about a month. Chauhan said India is likely to deploy indigenously developed and manufactured 5G telecom gears by end of this year for 5G services. The last batch of India Inc's corporate earnings will trickle in - Coal India, Pidilite Industries, Tata Consumer Products will report their June quarter results (Q1FY23).

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

Nifty Top volumes

• State Bank of India basis has reported marginal fall of 0.15% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 7528.25 crore for Q1FY23 as compared to Rs 7539.22 crore for Q1FY22.
• NTPC, Ohmium International and Spirare Energy have collaborated to generate green hydrogen.
• Tata Motors' subsidiary -- Tata Passenger Electric Mobility has entered into a UTA with Ford India for the acquisition of its manufacturing plant situated at Sanand, Gujarat.
• BPCL has reported consolidated net loss of Rs 6,147.94 crore for the Q1FY23 as against consolidated net profit of Rs 3,214.16 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.