Indian equities started the week on a positive note, extending their longest winning streak of 2026, as strong quarterly business updates from leading private-sector lenders boosted banking stocks while easing crude oil prices and improving foreign investment flows strengthened broader market sentiment.

The benchmark Nifty 50 climbed 0.48% to 24,385.40, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.5% to 78,146.72 in morning trading on Monday, building on four consecutive weeks of gains that have seen the two benchmark indices rise 3.9% and 4.7%, respectively.

The rally has been underpinned by a combination of declining global oil prices, easing concerns over U.S. monetary policy, and expectations that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East will continue to subside following diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran.

For India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, lower energy prices are of significant concern because they help reduce imported inflation, improve the country’s trade balance and ease pressure on government finances, factors that generally support corporate earnings and equity valuations.

Banking stocks led Monday’s advance after several lenders reported encouraging business updates for the June quarter.

The Nifty Bank index and the broader financial services index both rose around 0.7%, making financial stocks among the biggest contributors to the market’s gains.

HDFC Bank, India’s largest private-sector lender by market value, jumped 2.7% after reporting a 15.4% year-on-year increase in gross advances during the June quarter, signaling continued healthy loan demand despite a higher interest rate environment.

Axis Bank added 1.7% after its quarterly business update showed 18.8% growth in gross advances, reinforcing expectations that credit demand across India’s banking sector remains resilient.

The strong updates from two of the country’s largest lenders provided reassurance that loan growth continues to outperform expectations even as banks navigate tighter liquidity conditions and evolving monetary policy.

Not all lenders shared in the optimism.

Kotak Mahindra Bank fell 3.4% after reporting slower sequential growth in both loans and deposits, disappointing investors who had anticipated stronger momentum.

According to Piran Engineer, Senior Research Analyst at CLSA, most banks reporting provisional June-quarter operating metrics either met or exceeded market expectations.

“Most of the banks which reported June quarter provisional numbers have met or exceeded our estimates, with the exception of Kotak and RBL,” Engineer said.

He cautioned, however, that investors remain focused on the quality of future growth rather than headline lending figures alone.

“While overall growth has been strong, we remain watchful of the granularity within loan book expansion and the potential impact of declining CASA ratios on margins,” he said.

A declining Current Account Savings Account (CASA) ratio is closely monitored because low-cost CASA deposits provide banks with inexpensive funding. A sustained decline could increase funding costs and squeeze net interest margins even if lending volumes continue expanding.

Market breadth remained broadly positive, with 12 of the 16 major sectoral indices trading higher, reflecting improving investor confidence beyond financial stocks.

Consumer technology also contributed to gains.

Shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa, rose 2.3% after its quarterly business update indicated continued momentum in revenue growth, bolstering optimism about consumer spending despite lingering global economic uncertainty.

Beyond corporate earnings, investors are also monitoring domestic economic indicators that could influence India’s growth outlook over the coming months. Analysts highlighted improvements in the country’s annual monsoon season, which plays a critical role in agricultural production, rural incomes and food inflation.

India’s rainfall deficit narrowed to 24% as of July 5, improving significantly from 40% at the end of June, raising hopes that crop production and rural demand could strengthen if weather conditions continue to improve during the remainder of the season.

The development is particularly of interest because agriculture continues to support millions of livelihoods across India and remains a key driver of consumer demand in rural areas.

Foreign investor activity has also shown signs of improving after several months of volatility. According to provisional exchange data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased Indian equities worth 13.55 billion rupees (about $142.3 million) on Friday, marking their third consecutive trading session of net buying.

A sustained return of overseas capital would provide additional support for Indian equities, particularly as global investors reassess allocations across emerging markets amid shifting expectations for U.S. interest rates. Market participants are also closely watching the earnings season for clues about how recent geopolitical tensions and fluctuations in commodity prices have affected corporate profitability.

Analysts at Equinomics Research, Shriram Life Insurance, and Lighthouse Canton said the combination of moderating foreign outflows, improving monsoon conditions, and the gradual easing of Middle East tensions will likely remain the primary drivers of Indian equities in the near term.

Attention will now shift to upcoming quarterly earnings releases from major companies, which are expected to provide a clearer picture of corporate resilience and determine whether India’s equity rally has sufficient fundamental support to extend its longest winning streak of the year.

South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix has launched a landmark U.S. share sale that could raise about $28 billion, positioning the company at the center of one of the largest equity offerings ever as investors continue to pour money into businesses powering the global artificial intelligence revolution.

The company began marketing its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) offering on Monday, seeking to capitalize on unprecedented investor appetite for AI-related companies and to broaden its shareholder base beyond Asia.

According to regulatory filings, SK Hynix will sell 17.79 million new shares through a Nasdaq listing, with every common share represented by 10 American Depositary Receipts. The final offering price will be determined later this week based on the company’s share price in Seoul.

The transaction is expected to rank among the largest equity offerings in history. If completed at its targeted size, it would trail only SpaceX’s record $85.7 billion public offering completed last month, surpassing Saudi Aramco’s $25.6 billion initial public offering in 2019 and Alibaba’s similarly sized U.S. listing in 2014.

Despite a 4% decline in SK Hynix’s Seoul-listed shares on Monday amid broader market weakness, the company’s stock has surged approximately 273% this year, making it one of the world’s strongest-performing semiconductor stocks.

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index fell 2.2% on the day.

The listing comes as SK Hynix has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI investment boom, overtaking several global rivals in the race to supply the advanced memory chips required for artificial intelligence systems.

The company is the world’s leading producer of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a specialized form of DRAM that sits alongside AI processors and enables them to process enormous volumes of data at high speed. Its HBM chips are widely used in Nvidia’s AI accelerators and are increasingly deployed in systems operated by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and other hyperscale cloud providers investing hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure.

Unlike traditional DRAM, HBM has become one of the semiconductor industry’s most constrained products because of its complex manufacturing process and limited global production capacity. The resulting supply shortage has fueled soaring prices, allowing SK Hynix to significantly outperform competitors including Samsung Electronics and Micron.

“This is more than a liquidity event,” said Dave Mazza, Chief Executive Officer of Roundhill Investments, whose exchange-traded fund tracks global DRAM manufacturers.

“SK Hynix has been one of the most important companies in the world that most U.S. institutions could not easily own. The listing removes an accessibility discount, not a quality discount.”

Analysts say a Nasdaq listing could substantially expand the company’s global investor base.

While large international funds have long been able to access Korean equities, a U.S. listing is expected to attract smaller institutional investors, retail investors, and passive investment funds that primarily invest through American exchanges.

Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, said the listing opens the company to “a new group of momentum-hungry investors.” The move could also pave the way for SK Hynix’s eventual inclusion in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, one of the world’s most widely followed semiconductor benchmarks.

Analysts note that such inclusion would likely trigger automatic purchases by index funds and exchange-traded funds tracking the semiconductor sector, potentially increasing demand for the stock over time.

The proceeds from the offering will be used to finance the next phase of SK Hynix’s expansion.

The company said the capital will support construction of new semiconductor fabrication facilities in South Korea while funding purchases of advanced manufacturing equipment, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines produced by Dutch semiconductor equipment leader ASML.

Those investments come as semiconductor manufacturers race to expand production capacity to meet rapidly growing AI demand.

Cashing in on the Government’s Support

The offering also coincides with South Korea’s newly unveiled national semiconductor strategy. Last week, President Lee Jae Myung announced a sweeping industrial program worth approximately $576 billion aimed at strengthening the country’s leadership in semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

Under the plan, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics will anchor a new semiconductor ecosystem in southwestern South Korea through large-scale investments in fabrication plants, AI infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.

On Monday, President Lee instructed government officials to accelerate implementation of the initiative, warning that delays involving permits, land acquisition, electricity, and water infrastructure could undermine South Korea’s competitiveness in advanced technologies.

The government views semiconductors as a strategic industry central to the country’s future economic growth, particularly as global competition intensifies among the United States, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Europe.

How Will the Boom Last?

Despite the industry’s strong fundamentals, investors remain divided over how long the current AI-driven memory boom can continue.

Recent volatility in semiconductor stocks bolsters growing questions about whether hyperscalers will sustain record levels of AI infrastructure spending after committing hundreds of billions of dollars to new data centers.

Some analysts also warn that soaring memory prices could eventually increase costs across the technology industry, affecting spending on AI infrastructure, smartphones, personal computers and enterprise servers.

“We believe the memory cycle is beyond the early phase and now in the mid-cycle stage,” said Sundeep Gantori, Standard Chartered’s Chief Investment Officer for equities.

Nevertheless, many analysts expect structural AI demand to support elevated memory prices for years.

The global shortage of advanced memory has already prompted technology companies to sign long-term supply agreements, while manufacturers continue expanding production capacity in anticipation of sustained demand through at least the second half of the decade.

The Nasdaq listing could also help narrow SK Hynix’s valuation gap with U.S.-listed peer Micron by improving international accessibility and increasing trading liquidity. HSBC recently raised its valuation multiple for SK Hynix, citing stronger shareholder-friendly initiatives and enhanced access for global investors through the planned U.S. listing.