INVESTING UPDATE 24

 Healthy corporate earnings, coupled with the return of foreign institutional investors, aided the positive sentiment. Indian equity markets outpaced most global markets other than the Nasdaq in July, buoyed by declining commodity prices, expectations of a normal monsoon and the return of foreign investors. Expectations that central banks globally would adopt a softer policy stance after raising interest rates to cool inflation also helped. Both the BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange's Nifty rose over 9.5% each in July, in dollar as well as local currency terms, according to Bloomberg data. Nasdaq Composite index rose nearly 12% in July. In July, the S&P 500 rose 8.1%, the Nikkei 225 advanced 6.1%, the Straits Time Index jumped 5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and CAC 40 gained 5% each. Ibovespa Brasil and FTSE 100 rose nearly 5% each while the Philippines and Korean stock exchange benchmarks rose 3% each. Deutsche Boerse AG, FTSE Bursa Malaysia, Jakarta Stock E...