The stock markets opened flat on Tuesday tracking a mixed trend in global markets and sustained foreign fund outflow.. The Sensex was up 7.06 points or 0.01 percent at 52742.65. The Nifty50 declined 6.40 points or 0.04 percent at 15,808.30. About 1234 shares have advanced, 542 shares declined, and 69 shares are unchanged. The Nifty sectoral indices were mixed, with Nifty Private bank down 0.4 percent. S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indexes were trading 0.37 percent and 0.47 percent higher, respectively.
Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, and Larsen & Toubro were the top Sensex gainers. On the other hand, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top laggards.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,658.72 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.
According to Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities look to be flat as of now.
The slew of measures by Finance Minister on Monday to spur economic activities augurs well, he said, adding that the increase in allocation for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme from Rs 3 trillion to Rs 4.5 trillion is a fantastic move to support the pandemic-hit sectors and ensure liquidity, which also offers comfort to banks.
Notably, a sharp fall in daily caseload and satisfactory ramp up in vaccination process have overshadowed concerns emerging from higher crude prices and weakening rupee, he said, PTI reported.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the strongest headwind for the market now is the continuous FII selling which is logical in the context of the high valuations.
"With strong DII buying (worth Rs 1,277.08 crore on Monday) and over-confident retail activity, FIIs are now in a position to sell aggressively without pulling the markets down significantly," he said.
Asian markets down
Asian markets fell depsite gains overnight on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite touching fresh record closing highs. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.03 percent in early trade while the Topix index shed 1.11 percent. South Korea's Kospi also declined 0.17 percent.
Fuel prices hiked
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) hiked fuel prices once again. The price of petrol in the national capital on Tuesday (June 29) was up 35 paise at Rs 98.81 per litre; while diesel prices were up 28 paise per litre at Rs 89.18 per litre today.
Across all metros, the price of petrol in Mumbai is the highest at Rs 104.90 per litre and diesel costs Rs 96.72 per litre. In Chennai, petrol is being retailed at Rs 99.80 per litre and diesel at Rs 93.72 per litre. Petrol costs Rs 98.64 per litre in Kolkata while diesel costs Rs 92.03 per litre.
Fuel prices have increased 32 times since May 4 and twice already this week. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) revise the prices of fuel on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.55 percent lower at $73.73 per barrel.
Financial results today
The following companies will release their March quarter results today: Finolex Cables, Hindustan Oil Exploration, A2Z Infra Engineering, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure, BAL Pharma, Balmer Lawrie Investments, Bharat Road Network, Dredging Corporation Of India, E.I.D.-Parry (India), Gallantt Metal, GALLANTT Ispat, GOCL Corporation, Golden Tobacco, HOV Services, Himadri Speciality Chemical, Housing & Urban Development Corporation, Ind-Swift Laboratories, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Kirloskar Electric Company, KRBL, Madhucon Projects, MARG, Mirza International, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals, NBCC (India), Noida Toll Bridge Company, Omaxe, Orient Press, Ruby Mills, Ruchi Soya Industries, Rail Vikas Nigam, Sintex Industries, SPML Infra, Subros, Sunteck Realty, Suzlon Energy, Zee Learning.
F&O ban
National Aluminium Company is under the F&O segment including companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
