Markets trade flat with negative bias in range-bound session of trade

In the extremely range-bound session of trade, Indian benchmark indices altering between positive and negative territory, were now trading flat with a negative bias, as market participants remained cautious ahead of tomorrow’s crucial referendum that will decide whether Britain will stay in the European Union or not. Sentiments weakened further after the repot that India's fuel consumption grew 6.7% in May over that a year ago, reflecting greater use of cars and increased air traffic in an expanding economy, while crude oil production fell 3.3%, increasing import dependence to 81.9% from 81.3%.  However, losses remained capped with an UNCTAD report stating that India's foreign direct investment is likely to cross $ 60 billion this year on favourable policy environment even as the FDI flows globally are set to witness a decline. It has said that the large increase of announced greenfield investments in manufacturing industries may provide further impetus to FDI this year. Further, monsoon arrived drought-hit Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra, and the Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as well as the northern states of the country.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher on Wednesday, with investors focused on Thursday's vote on Britain's possible withdrawal from the European Union and after relief over US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's statement that the Fed would remain cautious in raising interest rates. However, the Japanese market declined after the yen strengthened against other major currencies.

Back home, stocks from Metal, Auto and Power counters were among the worst performers, while Banking, Realty and Consumer Durables counters battled out against all odds. In scrip specific development, shares of Sharon Bio-Medicine rallied after the company's board at its meeting discussed the current financial position and decided to introduce more profitable products and increase capacity utilization. Moreover, BASF India has jumped after the company announced that its parent company, BASF SE, Germany that globally BASF has signed an agreement to acquire Albermarle's global surface treatment business of Chemetall for a purchase price of $ 3.2 million.

The market breadth on BSE was pessimistic, out of 2175 stocks traded, 975 stocks advanced, while 1061 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26797.40, down by 15.38 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 26772.94 and 26887.29. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04%, while Small cap index was down by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.31%, Realty up by 0.26% and Consumer Durables up by 0.06%, while Metal down by 0.86%, Auto down by 0.49%, Power down by 0.26%, Oil & Gas down by 0.17% and PSU down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.25%, Adani Ports &Special up by 0.86%, TCS up by 0.74%, HDFC Bank up by 0.72% and ICICI Bank up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.31%, Tata Steel down by 1.77%, GAIL India down by 1.26%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.93% and NTPC down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, retaining its position among the top ten countries globally in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI), India became the tenth largest recipient of FDI in 2015 and the fourth in developing Asia. After 2008, for the first time, India had entered the top 10 recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) during 2014.  As per the latest World Investment Report, released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India’s FDI inflows increased to $44 billion in 2015 as compared to $35 billion in 2014, and the growth has been across the board, following a series of reforms by the government.

The report stated that Greenfield investments in India accounted for the spike in FDI in 2015. In terms of greenfield investments, India received $63.44 billion in foreign investment commitment, more than $59.4 billion for China. It further said that the new liberalisation steps enacted since the inauguration of the new government have contributed to attracting FDI from all quarters, listing the country in top three preferred investment desitnation for multinational enterprises, just behind China and the US.

The report further highlighted that the top 10 sources of equity foreign investment in India were Singapore, Mauritius, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. Singapore and Mauritius were among the countries that accounted alone for nearly three fifth of total foreign equity investment in India. Among the investment promotion agencies, India is the sixth most preferred investment destination, one rank above last year's.

As per the report, US, Hong Kong and China were the top three host countries for FDI. China slipped to the third position and exchanged places with the US which was the largest FDI host country in 2015, up from the third-largest in 2014. Globally, FDI activity has increased by 38%, in a signal that a revival in investment sentiments is on the cards.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8216.35, down by 3.55 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 8208.15 and 8238.35. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.50%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.00%, Adani Ports &Special up by 0.91%, ICICI Bank up by 0.78% and HDFC Bank up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.74%, Tata Motors down by 2.22%, Hindalco down by 2.15%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.85% and Tata Steel down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.12%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.21%, KOSPI Index increased 0.41%, Jakarta Composite gained 0.31%, Shanghai Composite added 0.43% and Hang Seng was up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 0.44%.