Crude oil prices may see a recovery in the near term as positive signals emerge from the supply side and geopolitical tensions show signs of easing, experts said on Saturday.

While demand concerns continue to weigh on global sentiment, market experts believe crude prices could bounce back if key technical levels are sustained.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices remained subdued on Friday, trading near the mid $65 range amid thin holiday trading and weak global demand.

However, analysts are pointing to a potential turnaround, especially with key events like the OPEC+ meeting and the US tariff deadline on the horizon.

Tejas Shigrekar, Chief Technical Research Analyst -- Commodities and Currencies at Angel One Ltd, said the crude oil outlook remains mixed, but there are reasons for cautious optimism.

The Indian equity markets closed lower for the week as investors turned cautious ahead of the crucial July 9 US-India trade deadline and the start of the corporate earnings season, experts said on Saturday.

Both benchmark indices -- the Sensex and the Nifty -- slipped 0.7 per cent each on a weekly basis, as broader market sentiment remained clouded by global uncertainty and profit booking after the recent rally.

The Nifty ended the week at 25,461, while the Sensex closed at 83,432.89. The indices had started the week with a strong breakout, but the momentum faded amid concerns over a possible delay in finalising trade agreements.

However, reports suggesting an interim deal between India and the US helped limit the downside in the latter half of the week.

According to Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking Limited, the pullback was largely driven by investors booking profits following recent gains.

India is on track to achieve a record coal production of 1.15 billion tonnes in the financial year 2025-26, according to a new report.

The country’s domestic coal production touched an all-time high of 1,047.6 million tonnes in FY25, growing at an average annual rate of 10 per cent over the past five years, as per data compiled by CareEdge Ratings.

This growth has been driven by a series of policy reforms aimed at making coal mining more efficient and self-reliant.

Key government initiatives like the Single Window Clearance system, the Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) model, 100 per cent FDI allowance in coal mining, and regular auctions of coal blocks have helped boost domestic output.

In a move that could shape the future of India’s export-driven IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) sector, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday released a consultation paper on regulating the sale of foreign telecom service providers’ SIM and eSIM cards for such devices meant solely for exports.

IoT devices are everyday objects that have sensors, software, and other technology inside them. This helps them connect to the internet and talk to other devices.

India’s foreign exchange reserves once again crossed the $700 billion mark, reaching $702.78 billion for the week ending June 27, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

This marks a significant rise of $4.8 billion from the previous week, when reserves stood at $697.93 billion.

This is the first time in nine months that India’s forex reserves have gone above the $700 billion level. The reserves had last touched an all-time high of $704.88 billion in end-September 2024.

The latest increase was mainly due to a sharp rise in foreign currency assets, which went up by $5.75 billion to reach $594.82 billion.

After witnessing a highly volatile session, the Indian stock market ended in green on Friday amid value buying in IT and banking stocks as talks progressed on the interim India-US trade deal.

Touching an intra-day low at 83,015, the Sensex bounced back to end at 83,432.89, up 193.42 points or 0.23 per cent against the last session's closing of 83,239.47. Similarly, Nifty closed 0.22 per cent or 55.70 points higher at 25,461.

"The Indian market is experiencing a pause as investors adopt a wait-and-watch strategy ahead of the impending US tariff deadline with mixed global cues," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

Both the benchmark indices traded with volatility amid mixed global cues and investors' cautious approach ahead of the US tariff deadline.

Among Sensex stocks, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HCL, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Finserv and TCS closed in positive territory. While Sun Pharma, ITC, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Mahindra and Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki settled in red.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday withdrew Rs 1,00,010 crore from the banking system through a seven-day variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auction.

The move is aimed at reducing the excess liquidity currently present in the banking system. According to a statement by the RBI, it received bids worth Rs 1,70,880 crore during the auction.

“Out of this, the central bank accepted Rs 1,00,010 crore at a cut-off rate of 5.47 percent,” the Central Bank said in its statement.

This step is expected to reduce the surplus liquidity and could lead to a rise in short-term overnight rates.

As per the RBI’s latest data, the banking system had a liquidity surplus of around Rs 4.04 lakh crore as of July 3.

Despite previous liquidity absorption efforts, the system remained in surplus, largely due to month-end government inflows such as salary and pension disbursements.

Defence stocks were trading in positive territory on Friday, a day after the union government approved the purchase of defence equipment worth Rs 1.05 lakh crore.

Shares of all major public sector defence companies, including BEL, BEML, Hindustan Aeronautics, and Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilder, rose by up to 4.5 per cent during intraday trading.

Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders shares were up 1.46 per cent at Rs 3,337.80 on NSE. The shipbuilding company's shares opened at Rs 3,320.0 and rose to hit an intra-day high of Rs 3,369.0 during the trading hours.

Shares of Nuvama Wealth management plummeted over 10 per cent on Friday after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred Jane Street, a US-based trading entity, from accessing the domestic equity market, asking them to deposit alleged illegal gains of Rs 4,843.5 crore in an account in favour of the market's regulator.

Nuvama Wealth Management is Jane Street's trading partner for Indian stock markets.

Around 12:45 p.m., Nuvama Wealth shares were trading at Rs 7,408.50, down 9.45 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) compared to the previous day's closing price.

The scrip started trading in negative territory at Rs 7,940.0, falling Rs 235 against the last session's closing price of 8,175.50 on the exchange.

In one of the biggest market manipulation cases India has witnessed in recent years, US-based trading firm Jane Street is under the scanner for allegedly using sophisticated strategies to rig Indian stock indices and pocket over Rs 43,000 crore in options profits.

According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Jane Street and its related entities devised an elaborate intra-day trading strategy to artificially inflate and deflate the Bank Nifty index -- mainly on expiry days -- to gain from massive options positions.

The regulator found that between January 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025, Jane Street entities booked staggering profits of Rs 43,289 crore, largely from Bank Nifty options.

This was allegedly achieved by manipulating prices in the cash and futures market -- with precision, scale, and timing that pointed to deliberate intent.

According to SEBI, the strategy involved aggressive buying of Bank Nifty component stocks and futures during morning trading hours, which caused the index to rise.