The Indian stock market opened in the green on Monday, led by gains in auto and metal stocks, amid mixed global cues.

At 9.29 am, Sensex was up 221 points or 0.28 per cent at 80,821 and Nifty was up 82 points or 0.33 per cent at 24,647.

In the opening trading session, auto and metal were leading the market, advancing 0.93 per cent and 1.07 per cent respectively. The Nifty Bank edged up 0.13 per cent, to 55,688 points.

Midcap and smallcap stocks saw buying activity. Nifty midcap 100 index was up 0.44 per cent and Nifty smallcap 100 index advanced 0.39 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, except for Nifty IT, all other indices were in the green.

Indian bullion prices dipped marginally this week while the rupee slightly declined compared to the US dollar due to tariff concerns.

In the near future, gold is expected to remain volatile within the range of Rs 97,000 to Rs 98,500, analysts said.

The price of 24-carat gold (10 gram) started the week at Rs 98,446 on Monday, rose to Rs 99,017 on Wednesday, and ended the week at Rs 98,534, according to data published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA).

"Gold traded weak by Rs 350 at Rs 97,700 in MCX, tracking softness in Comex gold which hovered near $3290. The decline comes amid pressure from the U.S. Fed’s continued hawkish stance and no indication of near-term rate cuts, which has dampened sentiment for safe-haven assets. Additionally, key U.S. data due later today is keeping participants cautious,” said Jateen Trivedi from LKP Securities.

Headline inflation in India is expected to stay below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 4 per cent target over the next two quarters, supported by a favourable base effect and muted food prices, a new report said on Saturday.

The data compiled by CareEdge Ratings said the recent moderation in inflation has been largely driven by easing food prices, with CPI inflation falling to 2.1 per cent in June 2025 -- the lowest level since January 2019.

The report noted that while inflation is likely to remain low in the near term, it could start rising from the third quarter and cross the 4 per cent mark in the last quarter of the current financial year as the base effect fades.

Indian space startups have received $430 million in investment till March this year, said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, in the Parliament, citing the success of opening up the space industry to the private sector.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Singh shared how private sector industries are participating in the space sector.

“The government has implemented the space sector reforms and the private sector is being encouraged to take up not only commercial but also scientific development activities,” Singh said.

“Till March 2025, cumulatively, a total of $430 million investment has happened in Indian Space startups,” he added.

To promote the participation of private entities in the space sector, the government had in June 2020 established the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) as an autonomous agency under the Department of Space (DoS) in India.

RBI is expected to cut 25 bps in repo rates in light of soft inflation and global uncertainties, aiming to reinforce growth momentum while it has a policy window, a report said on Saturday

We expect the RBI to continue frontloading with a 25 basis point cut at its August MPC meeting. Tariff uncertainty, better GDP growth and CPI numbers in FY27 are all frontloaded, SBI Research said in a report. A frontloaded rate cut in August could bring an "early Diwali" by boosting credit growth, especially as the festive season in FY26 is also frontloaded, it said.

According to the report empirical evidence suggests a strong pick up in credit growth whenever the festive season has been early and has been preceded with a rate cut.

The report suggested that policymakers at central banks should avoid missing the window for effective intervention by acting too late, saying, "No point in backloading or committing a type II error."

Lauding ties between India and Russia, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday stated that the two nations have a "steady and time-tested partnership."

While addressing a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Jaiswal noted that India's ties with any nation stands on their own merit and should not be seen through the prism of a third nation.

India sources its oil purchases based on global market offerings to meet its energy needs, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.

In response to a question, he also said that India-Russia bilateral relations are on a strong footing.

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose to Rs 1.96 lakh crore in July, up 7.5 per cent from the same month previous year, according to government data released on Friday.

The increase was driven by higher revenue from both domestic transactions and imports, reflecting steady economic activity, though the growth pace was slower than in recent months.

Between April and July this year, gross GST revenue stood at Rs 8.18 lakh crore -- marking a 10.7 per cent jump from Rs 7.39 lakh crore in the same period of 2024.

In July, the total gross GST collection comprised Rs 35,470 crore from Central GST, Rs 44,059 crore from State GST, Rs 1,03,536 crore from Integrated GST (including Rs 51,626 crore from imports), and Rs 12,670 crore from cess (including Rs 1,086 crore from imports).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is projected to keep repo rates unchanged in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on August 6, a report said on Friday.

Amid global market uncertainties and tariff concerns, India's GDP is projected to be 7 per cent in the upcoming three quarters, higher than current estimates, according to the report from HSBC Global Investment Research.