Sensex, Nifty remain range-bound

Indian equity benchmarks remained range-bound in late afternoon session, hovering around the neutral lines amid geopolitical concerns after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile. Investors also awaited minutes of the Fed’s June meeting to gauge how committed it was to hiking rates this year. Some concerns also came with Fitch ratings’ latest report that implementation of GST, albeit complex, will remove domestic trade barriers and help boost GDP growth over long-term, but poses significant short-term risks. However, the report showing that activity in India’s dominant service sector rose to an eight-month high in the month of June, provided support to the indices to trade with a positive bias. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index rose above the watershed ‘50’ mark for the fifth month running in June, registering reading at 53.1 in June as against the previous month’s 52.2. The Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index also rose to an eight-month high of 52.7 in June from 52.5 in May. Meanwhile, private equity firms have invested about $5.4 billion across 124 deals during June quarter, taking the total investments in first six months of this year to a record $11.34 billion.

On the global front, European markets were trading mixed as Independence Day celebrations in the US kept trading activity muted across the world and geopolitical tensions continued to heat up. Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Texmaco Rail & Engineering edged higher after the company entered into a non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lesico, Israel for active co-operation between the two organizations to identify potential scope of works and activities in respect of upcoming Tele-Aviv and Jerusalem Light Rail Transit projects (LRT) on a business case basis.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31213.12, up by 3.33 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 31177.78 and 31284.64. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 0.86%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 0.96%, Energy up by 0.93%, Industrials up by 0.80%, Oil & Gas up by 0.74% and Healthcare up by 0.72%, while IT down by 0.68%, TECK down by 0.60%, FMCG down by 0.43%, Telecom down by 0.39% and Consumer Durables down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 3.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.02%, ONGC up by 1.28%, Reliance Industries up by 1.17% and Axis Bank up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.34%, ITC down by 1.26%, HDFC down by 1.08%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.94% and Wipro down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, on the back of accelerated and solid upturn in new work orders, activity in India's dominant service sector rose to an eight-month high in the month of June. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index rose above the watershed ‘50’ mark for the fifth month running in June, registering reading at 53.1 in June as against the previous month's 52.2. The Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index which measures both manufacturing and services also rose to an eight-month high of 52.7 in June from 52.5 in May.

As per the survey report, inflows of new business in services companies grew strongly in June due to improved demand conditions and marketing efforts. Factory orders also increased, but at the weakest rate in four months. Furthermore, employment across the services sector rose modestly but at a rate that equaled May’s near four-year peak, while manufacturing jobs increased fractionally.

On the inflation front, the survey highlighted that inflationary pressures gathered speed in June month, with both input costs and output charges rising at quicker rates. Average cost burdens at services firms accelerated to a 3-month high, driven by higher prices of food and fuel and purchase costs at manufacturers rose at the slowest rate since last August. Going forward the output is expected by services firms to remain on an upward trajectory in the coming 12 months, on the back of better market conditions, the introduction of the goods & services tax and promotional activities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9625.30, up by 12.00 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 9607.35 and 9637.10. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 3.77%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.11%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.06%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.91% and ONGC up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.59%, ITC down by 1.35%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.00%, HDFC down by 0.90% and Wipro down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.94 points or 0.05% to 1,763.02, KOSPI Index increased 7.83 points or 0.33% to 2,388.35, Shanghai Composite increased 24.33 points or 0.76% to 3,207.13, Nikkei 225 increased 49.28 points or 0.25% to 20,081.63, Taiwan Weighted increased 57.01 points or 0.55% to 10,404.79 and Hang Seng increased 132.96 points or 0.52% to 25,521.97. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 44.11 points or 0.75% to 5,821.26.

European markets were trading mixed; France’s CAC increased 7.83 points or 0.15% to 5,182.73 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.93 points or 0.18% to 7,370.16. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX decreased 9.65 points or 0.08% to 12,427.48.