Overview

• Markets opened flat on July 21 with muted reactions to Q1 FY26 results from Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
• Chief investment strategist Michael Arone warns that high valuations have narrowed the margin for error and amplified sell-offs for companies missing earnings forecasts.
• Foreign institutional investors continued to sell while domestic institutional investors remained net buyers, underlining contrasting confidence levels.
• Investors are waiting for additional blue-chip earnings and the outcome of the fifth round of India-US trade talks before the August 1 tariff suspension expires.
• U.S. Federal Reserve rate-cut prospects, oil prices near $69 a barrel and Japan’s political shifts are also guiding market sentiment.