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Indian markets ended Friday’s volatile session higher led by gains in banking and financial stocks. Today, the start of new week is likely to be pessimistic following a muted trend in the Asian peers. Besides, there might be some volatility in the markets due to the scheduled derivatives expiry of July month contracts. Fears of a third wave and the spread of Delta and Delta plus variant may dampen sentiments in markets. Also, investors will keep a close watch on the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting scheduled for July 27-28. There will be some cautiousness as the provisional commerce ministry data showed that the country's exports grew 45.13 per cent to $22.48 billion during July 1-21 on account of healthy growth in sectors such as gems and jewellery, petroleum and engineering. Imports also rose 64.82 per cent to $31.77 billion in the said period, leaving a trade deficit of $9.29 billion. Also, traders will be concerned as the health ministry India reported 39,742 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The Covid-19 death toll rose by 535 deaths in the last 24 hours, with the total reaching 420,551. However, some respite may come later in the day as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expressed confidence that India will continue to attract high foreign direct investment (FDIs) in the current financial year. Some support will come with a private report that India has seen a significant improvement in the UNESCAP's Global Survey on Digital & Sustainable Trade Facilitation with a 90.32 per cent score. Traders may take note of report that Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said digitisation has provided an impetus to the startup ecosystem in India and IPOs will drive the country's startup revolution. He said IPOs will drive our start-up revolution. Indian start-ups will raise money in Indian markets from the Indian public. This is truly Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Digitization has provided an impetus to the start-up ecosystem in India. Besides, RBI data showed the country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $835 million to touch a record high of $612.73 billion in the week ended July 16, 2021. Telecom stocks will be in focus as the Supreme Court said the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues payable by telecom majors, including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, cannot be a subject matter of any future litigation. A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao stated this while dismissing the plea of telcos seeking rectification of alleged errors in the calculation of AGR. There will be lots of important earnings announcements too, to keep the markets in action.

The US markets ended higher on Friday after a rocky week in which investors fretted over the Delta coronavirus variant and cheered an economic recovery. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Monday as super-strong US corporate earnings sucked funds out of emerging markets and into Wall Street, where records were falling almost daily.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended Friday’s trading session with gains, led by gains in ICICI Bank, ITC, SBI and HCL Technologies. Benchmarks made positive start, as traders took some support with the Ministry of External Affairs stating that India has been in touch with the various countries regarding the possibility of import of vaccines to supplement domestic production. Traders also took a note of Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar’s statement that the RBI is working on phased introduction of its own digital currency and is mulling pilot projects in wholesale and retail segments in the near future. However, key indices gave up opening gains and turned volatile, as traders got anxious with Former World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu stating that India's wholesale price-based inflation is at a 30-year high, leading to a very alarming situation for the country. He, however, doesn't see any risk of hyperinflation, but cautioned that if retail inflation follows wholesale prices, it might lead to inflationary crisis. Benchmarks bounced back from day's low and were trading firmly in green in afternoon deals, as India has significantly improved its ranking in terms of trade facilitation due to various reforms undertaken by various departments especially customs under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC). India has scored 90.32 per cent in United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific's (UNESCAP) latest Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. Traders found support with private report that employees in India will see bigger pay rises next fiscal year as firms expect to emerge from lockdowns and the supply of applicants lags demand. Meanwhile, Minister for Road Transport & Highway -- Nitin Gadkari said the Road Transport and Highways ministry has constructed 13,327 km of National Highways in 2020-21 (FY21), which works out to about 37 km per day. Gadkari said to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic effect, his ministry took initiatives under Atmanirbhar Bharat and provided several COVID-19 relief measures to contractors, concessionaires and consultants, including extension of time for 3-9 months. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 138.59 points or 0.26% to 52,975.80, while the CNX Nifty was up by 32.00 points or 0.20% to 15,856.05.

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