India Stocks Resume Weekly Uptrend Amid Trade War Caution

Indian equity benchmarks resumed an uptrend after posting their worst week in seven, but market participants are advising caution on the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China.

For the week, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.66 percent and the NSE Nifty 50 index climbed 0.54 percent.

The rebound in the benchmark indices was led by a rally in automobile stocks following robust sales growth in June and fast-moving consumer goods shares after a hike in minimum support prices for kharif crops, according to AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital. However, cautioned prevailed as the U.S. imposed tariffs for the first time on Chinese imports and China hit back almost immediately.

The escalating trade tensions may stem the rally back home and lead to a consolidation in the equity benchmarks at current levels, Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Securities. "The overall direction for market will not change anytime soon,” Choksey told BloombergQuint over phone. Escalating trade tensions is triggering profit warnings from most of the big companies of the world. Markets will remain sideways, and sporadic rises cannot be ruled out as the Indian market is highly oversold, he added.

Rupee

• Rupee depreciated in a volatile week. The local unit fell 0.6 percent to 68.88 per dollar versus previous week's close of 68.47.

Commodities

• Gold rose 0.13 percent to $1,254.20