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Markets likely to make positive start on Thursday
Aug-20-2026

Indian equity markets are likely to make a positive start on Thursday following overnight gains on Wall Street as softer US Treasury yields boosted risk appetite across global markets. Additionally, some support may come from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), who remined net buyers on August 19, 2026, purchasing equities worth Rs 407.99 crore

Some of the key factors to be watched:

Sitharaman, Goyal in Singapore for talks to deepen trade, investment ties: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal are in Singapore for high-level talks aimed at deepening economic ties with the Southeast Asian financial hub.

Indian envoy kwatra meets US officials to strengthen bilateral ties: India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra met US Assistant Secretary of State S Paul Kapur and discussed developments across various pillars of the bilateral partnership.

Innovation, design, global branding key to taking gems & jewellery exports to $100 billion: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said building a comprehensive ecosystem through innovation, branding, and global design will help gems and jewellery exports reach $100 billion by 2040.

Grid, storage readiness to drive next phase of RE growth: Rating agency ICRA said that Electricity grid and energy storage readiness will drive the next phase of renewable energy (RE) growth while the aggressive BESS bidding will keep a tab on project economics. ICRA projects the share of generation from RE capacity, including large hydro, to cross 35 per cent by 2029-30 from 22 per cent in 2024-25.

RBI MPC preferred wait-and-watch stance amid food and fuel inflation risks: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting minutes showed that the RBI's rate-setting panel broadly agreed that rising food and fuel prices posed inflation risks, but there was limited evidence of broad-based price pressures, warranting a wait-and-watch approach, while voting for the status quo on interest rates.

Global front: The US markets ended higher on Wednesday as a sharp decline in Treasury yields boosted investor sentiment. Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks extended their losing streak on Wednesday as elevated crude oil prices amid a lack of a diplomatic resolution following the end of the US-Iran ceasefire dented investor sentiment. Brent crude has crossed $91 a barrel while long-term bond yields have surged to multi-year highs, fuelling risk aversion and weighed on equities. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 325.78 points or 0.42% to 76,909.68 and the CNX Nifty was down by 76.60 points or 0.32% to 24,078.30.  

Some of the important factors in trade: 

India, Singapore set to discuss trade, investment, advanced manufacturing at ISMR: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said the fourth round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) will be held in Singapore on August 20, 2026, with the two countries looking to further expand cooperation in key sectors such as trade, investment, advanced manufacturing and digitalization. 

Goyal to undertake four-day visit to Japan for strengthening trade, investment ties: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that he would be visiting Japan from August 24 to August 27, 2026 to hold discussions on further strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries.

India’s overseas investment commitments surge 16.74% in July 2026: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments jumped by 16.74% to $5,705.42 million in July 2026 as against $4,887.22 million in July 2025. 

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