Flat opening…Tight band continues

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. - John C. Maxwell. Industry voices are getting louder against the lack of political leadership in our country. Forget about reforms, even normal decision-making appears to have come to a standstill under UPA II. This needs to change, and change fast before it is too late. The Nifty has been trading in a tight band of 5000 - 5150 and a move above 5150 should confirm the end to the near term downtrend. The start is likely to be subdued as Asian markets are trading mixed owing to lingering worries about the ongoing debt crisis in the eurozone. Markets in Europe managed modest gains though while the US indices notched strong gains. Although, the IIP data has gained notoriety for being erratic there is no denying that the Indian economy needs urgent turbo charging. Lack of fresh investments and slowdown in mining continue to be a drag; the saving grace being electricity output and consumption, both of which held up well. The RBI could certainly help, but any monetary action without fiscal discipline from the Centre is futile. Courage of conviction is the need of the hour. Hopefully, PM & Co. will find some of that in the coming days. Key Results Today: CESC. Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net sellers of Rs 566mn in the cash segment on Tuesday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 542.1mn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE. The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 3.1bn in the F&O segment on Tuesday, according to the provisional NSE data. The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 2.14bn in the cash segment on Monday, according to the SEBI figures. Global Data Watch today: RBA Governor Glenn Stevens Speech, Japan machinery orders, Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence (Jun), Germany Consumer Price Index (May), EU Industrial Production (Apr), Germany 10-year Bond Auction, US Producer Price Index (May), US Retail Sales (May), US Business Inventories (Apr)