Global Markets End July on High; Sensex, Nifty, Kospi See Major Gains

Market Wrap : Sensex, Nifty End Volatile July on a High; Kospi Stages Historic 18% Rebound as Big Tech Earnings Revive AI Rally; Gold Steady, Rupee Recovers

Global markets closed out an extraordinarily turbulent July on a strong note, as blowout earnings from Microsoft and Amazon reignited the artificial intelligence trade and triggered one of the wildest single-day rebounds in stock market history in South Korea. Indian benchmarks capped a choppy month with a solid weekly gain, aided by returning foreign investor interest and a sharp pullback in crude oil prices.

Indian Markets : Sensex, Nifty Post Strong Weekly Gains on FII Buying, Easing Crude

The BSE Sensex closed Friday's session at 78,094.64, up 166.49 points or 0.21%, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 66.45 points (0.27%) to settle at 24,383.60, extending gains for a third straight session. Auto and financial services stocks led the charge, with Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Eternal, Shriram Finance and Jio Financial among the top Nifty gainers, while IT majors Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Wipro lagged, with the Nifty IT index snapping a five-day winning streak.

For the week, the Sensex surged roughly 2,035 points, or about 2.68%, while the Nifty added around 616 points, or approximately 2.59%, fully reversing the previous week's losses. The rally was underpinned by a strong return of foreign institutional investor (FII) buying — with FIIs purchasing equities worth over ₹7,360 crore cumulatively over the last three sessions of the week — even as domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned mild sellers on the final day. Sentiment was further boosted by a sharp retreat in crude oil prices through the week, as easing Middle East shipping disruptions allowed more tankers to pass through affected regions, and by broadly positive global cues following a powerful rally on Wall Street.

Asian Markets : Kospi Stages Record 18% Rebound After Historic Meltdown

Asian markets delivered one of the most dramatic weeks in recent memory, centered on South Korea's stock exchange. The Kospi plunged over 17% across three brutal sessions (July 27-29), triggering back-to-back circuit breakers on July 28 and 29 — the first such consecutive trading halts in the exchange's history — as a "triple-nested" leverage structure of retail margin debt and single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix unwound violently, dragging the index down to an intraday low of 5,262.77.

Then, on Friday, the Kospi staged the single largest rebound in its history, surging a record 17.91% — 1,001.89 points — to close at 6,595.45, comfortably eclipsing the previous record of 11.95% set during the 2008 financial crisis. Samsung Electronics jumped 26.81% and SK Hynix soared 29.95%, hitting its daily upper trading limit for the first time in 17 years, after Microsoft's blockbuster earnings eased fears over AI infrastructure spending. Despite the historic single-day pop, the Kospi still ended July down roughly 22% for the month — its worst monthly performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 4.03% on Friday to 64,362.02, though it ended the week roughly flat versus the previous Friday's close. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.10% on Friday to 25,884.43, up about 3.7% for the week, while China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.72% to 3,832.26, up roughly 0.5% for the week. China's tech-focused STAR 50 index nonetheless posted its worst monthly performance on record, reflecting how uneven the AI-driven volatility has been across the region.

US Markets : Wall Street Snaps Losing Run as Microsoft, Amazon Deliver Blowout Results

US equities closed their first winning week in three, powered by a spectacular run of Big Tech earnings. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% on Friday to close at 7,489.72, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1% to 25,373.85, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 276.97 points, or 0.53%, to 52,485.03, as Amazon shares surged after its e-commerce and cloud businesses beat expectations.

The rally followed Microsoft's historic 15% single-day stock surge on Thursday — its biggest one-day gain since 2008 — after its Azure cloud business topped $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time, easing fears that massive AI capital spending wasn't paying off. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet collectively guided for $720-745 billion in 2026 capital expenditure, reassuring investors even as Meta shares fell about 8% and Apple dropped 7% on disappointing guidance. The rebound came despite a continued backdrop of Middle East tensions and a sharp spike in the 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level since 2007.

Crude Oil : Brent Retreats to Around $90 After Touching $100+ Highs

Oil markets cooled significantly this week after the prior week's spike above $100 a barrel. Brent crude was trading around $90 per barrel by Friday, while WTI crude hovered near $85-88 a barrel, as easing Red Sea shipping disruptions and signs of a partial de-escalation in the Iran conflict allowed more tankers to move through previously affected corridors. Even so, oil prices ticked up slightly on Friday after fresh reports out of Iran, underscoring how quickly sentiment could reverse if hostilities flare again.

Gold and Silver Prices in India Today

Gold held largely steady in India as July drew to a close, following a volatile month that saw both metals fall sharply before recovering most of their losses. As of today:

- 24-carat gold: approximately ₹14,460 per gram (around ₹1,44,050-1,44,950 per 10 grams) - 22-carat gold: approximately ₹13,255 per gram - 18-carat gold: approximately ₹10,845 per gram - Silver: approximately ₹219,000-235,000 per kilogram (roughly ₹219-235 per gram), with some intraday variation across sources

Prices vary by city due to local levies and making charges, with Delhi typically among the highest. These figures exclude GST and other applicable charges — given the sharp swings in silver this week, it's worth checking a live rate before publishing.

Rupee and Currency Markets

The Indian rupee staged a solid recovery this week, aided by sustained intervention from the Reserve Bank of India and the pullback in crude oil prices. USD/INR eased to around ₹95.4-95.7 by Friday — a near three-week high for the rupee — after having touched weaker levels near ₹96.9 earlier in the week.

Against other major currencies, the rupee stood at approximately:

- 1 US Dollar (USD) ≈ ₹95.5 - 1 Euro (EUR) ≈ ₹109.6 - 1 British Pound (GBP) ≈ ₹128.9 - 100 Japanese Yen (JPY) ≈ ₹60.4

Outlook

With AI-related capital spending once again in favor and crude oil prices off their recent highs, sentiment heading into next week looks considerably more constructive than it did just seven days ago. That said, South Korea's leveraged ETF turmoil is a reminder of how fragile the AI-driven rally remains beneath the surface, while any renewed flare-up in the Iran conflict could quickly reverse this week's relief in oil and currency markets. Investors will be watching continued Q1 earnings in India, further Big Tech results globally, and any fresh developments on the Middle East front for cues in the days ahead.

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*Note: Intraday prices for gold, silver, currencies, and crude fluctuate through the trading session — figures above reflect rates as reported through Friday, July 31, 2026, and should be verified against a live source before publishing time-sensitive figures.*