Global markets remain broadly stable despite lingering geopolitical tensions. The Strait of Hormuz continues to operate without disruption, and markets are not expecting any major military escalation before the funeral ceremonies of Iran's former Supreme Leader. Meanwhile, US-Iran nuclear talks are scheduled to resume in Pakistan on Saturday.
The sharp sell-off in global semiconductor stocks has eased, although the sector has yet to stage a strong recovery. The US dollar remains weak, gold has climbed above $4,200 an ounce, while crude oil continues to soften.
Asian markets, which opened higher, slipped into negative territory during morning trade, even as US index futures traded firmly higher.
Gift Nifty, which closed at 24,350 on Friday night, rose to 24,398 in early trade before giving up gains. The indication is for Indian markets to open with a mild negative bias.
India's southwest monsoon rainfall deficit narrowed to 24 percent as of July 5, according to the India Meteorological Department. The deficit had stood at 40 percent a week earlier, helped by improved rainfall across northwestern states and central India.
The weather office expects rainfall during July to reach around 94 percent of the long-term average. However, kharif sowing remained 20 percent below last year's level as of June 25.
US markets remained closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 594.83 points (1.14 percent) to close at a record 52,900.07. The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged at 7,483.24, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 207.36 points (0.80 percent) to 25,832.67.
US index futures traded higher on Monday morning.
Dow futures gained 86 points (0.16 percent)
S&P 500 futures advanced 32 points (0.42 percent)
Nasdaq futures rose 278 points (0.94 percent)
Major European indices finished Friday's session with gains, extending the positive global sentiment.
Asian markets turned volatile after opening higher.
South Korea's Kospi initially jumped nearly 3 percent before trimming gains. Japan's Nikkei rose almost 1 percent before slipping into negative territory. Australia's benchmark index traded around 0.15 percent higher, while Hong Kong erased most of its earlier 1 percent gain. Shanghai remained about half a percent higher.
Indian equities advanced for a third consecutive session on Friday, with the Sensex closing above the 77,750 mark.
Information technology, real estate and healthcare stocks led the rally, with the Nifty IT index climbing 1.76 percent.
Foreign institutional investors returned as net buyers, purchasing equities worth ₹1,355.33 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors were net sellers worth ₹1,953.89 crore.
Overall, foreign investors turned net buyers during the week. They invested a net ₹16,461.84 crore across equities and debt. During June, however, they withdrew ₹49,340.45 crore from equities while investing ₹55,518.4 crore in the debt market.
On Friday:
Sensex gained 261.79 points (0.34 percent) to 77,763.91
Nifty 50 rose 95.15 points (0.39 percent) to 24,270.85
Bank Nifty slipped 93.15 points (0.16 percent) to 57,938.50
Nifty Midcap 100 declined 117.60 points (0.19 percent) to 62,190.30
Nifty Smallcap 100 added 7.30 points (0.04 percent) to 19,175.10
Market breadth remained positive. On the BSE, 2,195 stocks advanced while 2,060 declined. On the NSE, 1,812 stocks gained and 1,497 fell.
HDFC Bank reported 15.4 percent growth in first-quarter advances, its fastest pace in five quarters and well above market expectations. Deposits increased 14.7 percent.
IDBI Bank posted a 15 percent rise in first-quarter business, supported by strong growth in loans and deposits.
IndusInd Bank reported a 2.3 percent decline in first-quarter loan growth.
Dabur India expects double-digit growth in revenue and profit during the first quarter.
Godrej Consumer Products expects first-quarter sales growth of more than 15 percent.
Nykaa projected around 30 percent growth in first-quarter sales.
Vedanta Power reported a 38 percent increase in electricity sales during the first quarter.
Expectations that interest rates will remain unchanged in the near term boosted gold prices.
Gold settled 1.27 percent higher at $4,176.10 an ounce on Friday. It rose above $4,200 in early Monday trade, briefly touched $4,202, eased to around $4,180 and then recovered above the $4,200 level.
Most analysts have turned increasingly bullish on gold, citing continued central bank purchases and expectations of lower interest rates. State Street Global Advisors, in its Monthly Gold Monitor, expects gold to reach $5,500 an ounce by next March.
In Kerala, 22-carat gold rose ₹800 over the weekend to ₹1,07,600 per sovereign.
Silver climbed to $62.52 an ounce on Friday and traded around $62.85 on Monday morning.
Platinum traded at $1,646 an ounce, palladium at $1,262 and rhodium at $7,700.
Most industrial metals ended higher on Friday.
Copper rose 0.73 percent to $13,298.50 a tonne, while aluminium edged up 0.04 percent to $3,085.85. Zinc, lead, nickel and tin also recorded gains.
International rubber prices continued to rise on Friday. In Bangkok, RSS-1 traded at $288.60 per quintal and RSS-3 at $285.10. Kerala's RSS-4 remained unchanged at ₹26,900 per quintal.
Cocoa climbed to $5,017.24 a tonne. Prices remain above $5,000 amid concerns that El Niño could reduce production in West Africa.
Arabica coffee traded at $3.02 per pound.
The US Dollar Index ended Friday at 100.86 and was trading around 100.90 on Monday morning.
The euro strengthened to $1.1438 and sterling to $1.3351. The Japanese yen weakened to 161.52 against the dollar, while the Chinese yuan remained around 6.79 per dollar.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury eased to 4.465 percent.
The Indian rupee strengthened by 18 paise on Friday to close at ₹95.21 against the dollar.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward market, however, the dollar briefly rose to ₹95.47 before easing to around ₹95.23. The rupee also strengthened against other major currencies, with the yuan trading at ₹14.04 and the euro at ₹109.05.
Crude oil prices continued to soften as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained uninterrupted and OPEC+ proceeded with another production increase.
Brent crude traded around $71.65 a barrel on Monday morning, while WTI hovered near $68.33 before recovering slightly.
Expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged initially boosted cryptocurrencies before triggering volatile trading.
Bitcoin rose more than 3 percent to above $63,500, while Ether traded below $1,790 and Solana remained below $82.
Sensex: 77,763.91 (+0.34%)
Nifty 50: 24,270.85 (+0.39%)
Bank Nifty: 57,938.50 (-0.16%)
Nifty Midcap 100: 62,190.30 (-0.19%)
Nifty Smallcap 100: 19,175.10 (+0.04%)
Dow Jones: 52,900.07 (+1.14%)
S&P 500: 7,483.24 (+0.00%)
Nasdaq Composite: 25,832.67 (-0.80%)
US dollar: ₹95.21 (-₹0.18)
Gold (per ounce): $4,176.10 (+$52.20)
Gold (per sovereign): ₹1,07,600 (+₹800)
Brent crude: $72.12 (+$0.32)
