Key Indian stock indices turned in positive performance on Friday, August 22, on media reports that the government could ultimately take measures to boost economic growth and restore investor confidence focused on taxes for foreign portfolio flows. However, local stocks opened in the red amid uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance going forward as well as concerns about Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian’s recent comments to the effect that the Indian economy currently does not need any fiscal stimulus to combat a potential slowdown. Thus, mixed signals resulted in a volatile session. Meanwhile, traders continued to monitor quarterly earnings. Notably, CARE Ratings conducted a survey of 2,796 local firms and found that total net income increased 6.6% y-o-y for the three months ended in June compared to 24.6% y-o-y for the year-earlier period. Meanwhile, the external backdrop was upbeat as Asian benchmarks closed in the green, and European stocks were on the rise. Recapping the benchmarks, the Nifty 50 advanced 0.82% to 10,829.35, and the BSE Sensex firmed 0.63% to 36,701.16. By 10:28 GMT, the USD/INR currency pair eased 0.34% to 71.665, while EUR/INR traded down 0.49% to 79.2705. The 10-year Indian government bond yield widened to 6.564%. Conglomerate ITC, which includes tobacco and a number of other businesses, shed 1.7%, posting the biggest loss on the day. Mining company Vedanta outperformed the broader market, soaring 6.5% after some setbacks earlier this week. The daily chart shows that the BSE Sensex has repeatedly breached the lower line of Bollinger Bands, while the Slow Stochastic Oscillator and the RSI have approached oversold territory. Consequently, the uptrend will likely gain traction in the short term.