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Indian markets moved between gains and losses on Tuesday but managed to end the day with gains amid mixed global cues. Today, markets are likely to open flat with a positive bias tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Some support will come as The Reserve Bank issued draft guidelines to further liberalise the regulatory framework governing overseas investments with a view to promote ease of doing business. Traders likely to continue take support with provisional commerce ministry data showing that the country's exports rose by 50.45 per cent to USD 7.41 billion during August 1-7, on account of healthy growth in the shipments of engineering goods, gems and jewellery as well as petroleum products. Traders may take note of the finance ministry’s statement the economic impact of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be muted and there are visible signs of economic rejuvenation. The latest Monthly Economic Review, released by the finance ministry, said the robust recovery in tax collections cushions the fisc towards meeting the budgeted support to the economy. It also said the recent sero-prevalence results signify that India can reduce the likelihood of severe illness due to COVID-19 if the country sustains the momentum of the vaccination programme. Besides, India recorded 36,316 new Covid-19 cases and 468 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its tally to 32,033,333 and the death toll to 429,183. Meanwhile, Realtors' body Credai has demanded that input tax credit (ITC) under the GST regime should be allowed to developers, saying this could lead to a reduction in housing prices by 10 per cent. Credai, which has over 13,000 member developers, has urged the central government to facilitate the ITC for real estate developers under the composite scheme of GST. Banking stocks will be in focus with Moody’s report that the asset quality risks for banks will rise in most parts of ASEAN and India, as the region battles new waves of coronavirus infections amid low vaccination rates. Also, a private report stated that Public sector banks have advanced 133,000 unsecured loans to individuals to meet Covid-19 treatment costs. There will be lots of important earnings announcements too, to keep the markets in action.

The US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as market sentiment was boosted by the U.S. Senate passing a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited a key report on U.S. inflation.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended with marginal gains on Tuesday, on the back of buying in index heavyweights such as Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and HDFC amid a largely positive trend in global markets. Markets made positive start and traded higher for most part of the day, as sentiments got a boost with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data showing that India witnessed an addition of 16 million jobs in July mainly in the agriculture and construction sectors. Some optimism also came with the Finance Ministry’s statement that a Bill to end retrospective taxes imposed on indirect transfer of Indian assets will encourage companies to invest in India and help the country become a $5-trillion economy. Traders also remained positive with private report stating that business resumption activity reached a record high since the start of the pandemic over 15 months ago for the week ended August 8. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) rose to a record high of 99.4 for the week ending 8 August, from 94.0 last week, near the pre-pandemic level of 100, and surpassing the pre-second wave peak (of 99.3 in mid-February). However, markets trimmed all the gains in late hour of trading session, as country’s unemployment rate rose to a six-week high of 8.1% in the week ended August 8, 2021. But, markets recovered from blip to end in the green, as country's exports rose by 50.45 percent to $7.41 billion during August 1-7, on account of healthy growth in the shipments of engineering goods, gems and jewellery as well as petroleum products. Some support also came as the Reserve Bank issued draft guidelines to further liberalise regulatory framework governing overseas investments with a view to promote ease of doing business. The RBI has placed on its website two documents -- draft Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments - Overseas Investment) Rules, 2021 and draft Foreign Exchange Management (Overseas Investment) Regulations, 2021. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary’s statement that net Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in the April-June quarter was over Rs 1.67 lakh crore, which is 26.6 percent of the budget estimate of Rs 6.30 lakh crore for full 2021-22 fiscal. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 151.81 points or 0.28% to 54,554.66, while the CNX Nifty was up by 21.85 points or 0.13% to 16,280.10.

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