Benchmark share indices ended flat on Thursday as traders were unwilling to take fresh positions, following the expiry of June futures and options, ahead of the two-day European Union summit which begins today.
The 30-share Sensex provsionally ended down 15 points at 16,953 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 7 points at 5,135.
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(Updated at 14:29 hrs)
Markets continue to hover around the tight range with Indices trading marginally in negative zone. At 1430 hrs, the Sensex was down 17 points at 16,951 and the Nifty slipped 7 points at 5,135 levels.
The rupee is at Rs 57.05 against the American currency on the Interbank Foreign Exchange today on dollar selling by banks and exporters, and strong domestic equity market.
Meanwhile, India's crucial monsoon rains were 18 percent below average in the week to June 27, the weather office said on its website on Thursday, reflecting a lull phase over oilseed-growing areas of central India.
On the global front, European equities are trading weak with CAC, DAX and FTSE declining by almost 1%. Investors are reluctant to make big moves ahead of the European leaders' summit, which looks unlikely to agree urgent action to tackle the region's debt crisis.
Back home, BSE Auto and Oil & Gas indices have declined by almost 1% each followed by counters like Banks, Metal, Realty, Healthcare and Consumer Durable, all declining marginally. However, BSE FMCG index has surged by nearly 1%.
From the Auto space, Tata Motors has slipped by nearly 3% after the company said that it has halted production for three days due to the 'prevailing economic conditions'. M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Hero Moto have declined between 0.3-1%.
Index heavyweight Reliance Inds has slipped by nearly 1%.
From banking space, SBI has declined by almost 2%. SBI has cut interest rate on loans to exporters by 0.5% within days of the Reserve Bank increasing the export refinancing limits of banks. HDFC Bank has declined marginally.
GAIL is the top Sensex loser, down over 3%. Other notable losers include Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Sterlite, Bharti Airtel, HUL and Dr Reddys Lab.
On the gaining side, ITC is the top Sensex gainer, up over 1%. Other frontline gainers include Tata Steel, BHEL, Tata Power, Infosys, CIL, NTPC and JSPL.
Among other shares, OnMobile Global has tanked 18% to Rs 32.65, also its historic low, on over ten-fold jump in trading volumes. As many as a combined 13.4 million shares representing 23% of its free-float equity have changed hands on the counter so far, against an average around one million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks.
Bajaj Finserv has surged 6% to Rs 683 on back of over ten-fold jump in trading volumes.
The broader markets are trading absolutely flat. The market breadth in BSE remains negative with 1,345 shares declining and 1,278 shares advancing.