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Indian markets hit new all-time highs and ended with notable gains on Monday mainly on account of late hour buying. Today, markets are likely to get flat-to-positive start tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Investors will be eyeing Q1FY24 results for more cues. Foreign fund inflows likely to support domestic sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FII) net purchased shares worth net Rs 73 crore on July 17, as per the NSE data. Some support will come as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s (Ficci’s) latest quarterly survey on manufacturing reveals that sentiment is positive during the first quarter (Q1). Traders may take note of a paper authored by officials with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Economic Research Department stating that India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) would need to grow at 7.6% annually over the next 25 years, which will entail raising the current per capita GDP from $2,500 currently to $22,000, if the country wants to become an advanced economy. Besides, the government has simplified norms for exporters to avail benefits of an advance authorisation scheme under which free imports of input materials are allowed. Meanwhile, a Niti Aayog report said India witnessed 13.5 crore people moving out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21 with fastest reduction in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. However, there may be some cautiousness as RBI’ monthly bulletin noted that the Gross foreign direct investments (FDI) into India moderated to $ 12.2 billion in April-May 2023, from $ 16.5 billion in April-May 2022. Gross FDI had moderated from $ 84.8 billion in FY22 to $ 71.4 billion in FY23. Gold jewellery related stocks will be in focus as the government clarified that import restrictions on certain gold jewellery and articles are not applicable for units in the special economic zones (SEZs). On July 12, the government, through a notification, imposed these restrictions on certain gold jewellery and articles. Furthermore, the National Stock Exchange of India will conduct a special pre-open session for Reliance Industries (RIL) stock on July 20, on account of the demerger of the financial services business of the company.

The US markets ended higher on Monday, led by gains in financial and technology stocks. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Tuesday as investors await the release of minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s July policy meeting.

Back home, extending the winning streak on third consecutive session, Indian equity benchmarks ended at fresh record closing highs on Monday, on the back of a rally in banking stocks after HDFC Bank announced better-than-expected Q1 results. The markets opened marginally higher and extended the gains as the day progressed, as the Reserve Bank of India said India’s foreign exchange reserves jumped $1.229 billion to $596.28 billion in the week ended July 7. Traders found solace with Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar hailing India's remarkable progress in building unicorns and startups and prophesized that the next 4-5 years will witness substantial growth for such enterprises and the startups in the country will increase by 10 times. Some support also came with IMF stating that India has taken a very proactive approach toward making progress on the priorities of the G20 and its presidency’s key priorities are enhancing financing for global public goods and strengthening macroeconomic coordination. Markets extended gains in second half of trading session, as sentiments remained upbeat with the 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, and Rs 47,148 crore in March, April, May, and June, respectively. In July too they have been firm and so far in the month infused funds worth Rs 30,660 crore. Meanwhile, with an aim to increase circulation of the rupee in the Gulf region, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has inked two memoranda of understandings (MoUs) with the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) in Abu Dhabi for establishing a Framework to Promote the Use of Local Currencies viz. the Indian rupee (INR) and the UAE Dirham (AED) for cross-border transactions; and cooperation for interlinking their payment and messaging systems. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 529.03 points or 0.80% to 66,589.93 and the CNX Nifty was up by 146.95 points or 0.75% to 19,711.45.

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