In a stunning display of scientific prowess, India's space agency ISRO launched Chandrayaan-3 on its orbital journey. With its sights set on the moon's enigmatic South Pole next month, if this ambitious mission is successful, it will cement India's position among the elite nations that have graced the lunar surface.

As the nation admired this remarkable achievement, the stock markets echoed the prevailing mood of triumph. For the third consecutive week, domestic stock markets surged, and government bond yields recovered slightly on Friday as investors felt demand at successive weekly auctions waning.

This week Indian markets will have a keen eye on the FY24 April-June quarter corporate earnings and will track US unemployment, retail, and home sales data for June this week to decide on the direction of markets.

Indian Markets Last Week:

Stocks finished higher, marking the third week in a row of gains, on expectations that the US Federal Reserve would put off rate hikes in response to softening US inflation data. Sensex reached a new high of 66060.90, while the Nifty closed at 19564.50, spurred by a rally in technology and financial shares.

Yields on benchmark government bonds fell this week tracking US treasury yields. On Friday, the benchmark yield firmed up by 2 basis points as demand for the benchmark security was lower than expected at the auction.

The rupee depreciated by 8 paise at ₹82.1615 per dollar on Friday ending a four-day winning streak but had its finest week in four weeks aided by a dollar sell-off in anticipation of the end of the US Fed’s rate-hike cycle.

Global Markets Last Week:

US stocks ended lower Friday, halting a four-day winning streak, but still posted weekly gains as investors digested bank profits and a consumer sentiment index that showed Americans' confidence in the economy increased. The S&P 500 finished at 4,505.42, snapping a four-day win streak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained last week to close at 34,509.03, marking the index's sixth consecutive day of advances.

US treasury yields made a modest comeback on Friday following a week of significant falls. The 10-year Treasury note yield increased 6.3 basis points to 3.822%. The likelihood of a subsequent rate hikes this year has decreased, but money market traders still anticipate the Fed to hike rates by 25 basis points on July 26.

US Dollar recovered on Friday following a recent strong decline as investors hedged their bets ahead of the weekend, but its downward trajectory continued given that the Federal Reserve is seen to be nearing the end of its rate hike cycle amid cooling inflation. It was nevertheless on track for its largest weekly decline versus a basket of six major currencies since November.

Corporate Bonds

Bond Issuances Of The Past Week

Secondary Market

Yields declined by 5 basis points across maturities after US CPI inflation for June fell to 3%, exceeding expectations, despite a rise in domestic CPI inflation for June to 4.81 %. Trade volume was average, with mutual funds and insurance companies purchasing bonds and banks selling.

Outlook For This Week

Stock markets will eye results for the April–June quarter by companies like HDFC Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Lever, and JSW Steels, among others slated for this week to determine direction of the equities.

Bond yields are likely to continue moving in a range, tracking their US counterparts and picking up additional cues from June's US retail and house sales data as well as unemployment figures.

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