The nation commemorated its 65th Independence Day on Monday, but over the week, the celebrations gave way to a showdown with the country going into a tizzy following Anna Hazare's arrest. Markets too reflected a nervous state of affairs, with global cues remaining weak. A recap of the conversation in the studio:

Aditi: The factory output numbers for June grew at 8.8 per cent, much higher than what was estimated. Did you notice that the capital goods segment shot up 37.7 per cent?

Vikram: Oh yes! There are other bright spots too. Merchandise exports grew 82 per cent in July, the highest in at least 16 years. Gross direct tax collections for the April-July 2011 period grew at a robust 26 per cent. Makes me wonder if much-talked about slowdown is really happening…

Aditi: Well, food inflation is still above the 9 per cent mark. Definitely not good news for home and vehicle buyers as RBI may further raise rates in September. ICICI Bank's come up with its teaser home loan offer again now.

Vikram: Yeah! Wonder if it signals the beginning of the end of the rate hike cycle. Clearly it is a case of sentiments ruling the markets now. The Sensex lost 4.2 per cent over the week. Continued worries about the US and Europe and a fresh round of global uncertainty kept any run-up in check.

Aditi: But in contrast to last week, the markets opened to much better news from the US this time. Google, in its biggest deal to date, plans to buy Motorola Mobility for 12.5 billion dollars. This would give a leg up to Google's Android mobile software.

Vikram: Back home telecom troubles abated slightly for Reliance Communications, which in its first quarter results has witnessed fairly stable operations. Though ARPUs slipped, it was made up by increase in minutes of usage and steady realisations. It would now be hoping to unlock value by sale of its tower business and get the much-needed cash to reduce debt.

Aditi: Well, the mood at the other Reliance camp would be relatively sombre I guess… Reliance Industries has been overtaken by Coal India to become the largest listed entity, in terms market capitalisation! While Coal India's journey to the top was aided by demand for energy from power generators, a fall in natural gas production was the main reason for RIL losing its numero uno position.

Vikram: Ah... that must be some gas trouble! That reminds me, even Cairn India's troubles aren't yet over. Its shareholders, at its AGM last week, voiced concerns over Government's conditions such as sharing of royalty burden for Rajasthan's crude oil among all stake holders.

Aditi: Cairn may have a set of harried shareholders to contend with, but the mood at Infosys was definitely mixed. The IT major, which has had some of the happiest shareholders, saw the exit of an icon this week. Narayana Murthy laid down office as the Chairman of the company after three decades.

Vikram: Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

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