Volatile session ends with modest gains; Sensex up 37 pts

The Indian markets closed today's volatile session on a flat note. The Sensex inched 37 points higher and the Nifty rose 17 points. Major Headlines: Educomp Solutions surges after fund raising Airline stks fly on lower ATF tax hopes FDI in India slips 41% to $1.8 bn in April Indian FIs outlook revised to negative by Fitch Indian Markets The Dalal Street shut shop today with modest gains as investors awaited the outcome of the Fed meeting, which will signal if the US central bank is willing to undertake another bond-buying programme to stimulate the economy. Global stocks also supported sentiments on the Dalal Street. Asian markets gained, while European stocks mostly traded higher. The Indian Markets continued to maintain yesterday's trend and opened the second session of week on a flat note on the back of subdued cues from the global markets. At the opening bell, the Indian markets traded in green led by positive Asian cues and ahead of Federal Reserve's important meeting. The markets witnessed volatile swings throughout the day. The major support came from metal, capital goods, healthcare, auto, consumer durables, oil & gas, PSU, power and banking stocks, which helped markets, maintain an upward trend while profit booking in technology, FMCG and realty stock capped the upside. Major heavyweight supporters were - Tata Motors, ONGC, ICICI Bank, L&T, HUL, Dr. Reddy's Lab and Jindal Steel. The broader markets too ended the trade on a positive note. At the end of the day, BSE Midcap index rose 0.84%, while the BSE Smallcap index was up by 0.79%. The overall market breadth at close was positive. The Sensex closed at 16896.63, up by 36.83 points while the Nifty rose by 16.70 points to close at 5120.55. Looking at today's stock specific action, Tata Motors which ended up by 3.3% was among the big Nifty gainers. Shares in Tata Motors have rebounded post strong JLR sales in May. It was also the biggest Sensex mover today. Educomp Solutions too surged as the company tied up for USD 155 million to pay off FCCBs of USD 78.5 million on due date. The stock closed 11.27% higher. On the contrary, Coal India dropped on reports that the company will see a 7% hike in wage cost for this financial year, which will increase its salary bill by as much as Rs1750 crore. At the end of the day, the stock closed 1.53% lower. Cement stocks were in focus today. During the morning trading hours, Cement shares dropped on worries that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) would soon impose fine over alleged price collusion in the industry. Later in the day, newsreports stated that CCI's order on cement companies is most likely to come tomorrow (June 21, 2012). At the end of the market hours, few cement stocks saw a good upmove while others fell. ACC ended up by 3.53%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.75%, India Cements up by 4.64% and Shree Cement was up by 0.63% while JK Cements ended down by 0.07%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.97% and Madras Cement was down by 0.88%. The aviation sector too captured the limelight as shares of Indian airlines surged on reports that the civil aviation ministry will meet finance ministry counterparts to discuss the lowering of aviation turbine fuel taxes resulting in rising hopes of an announcement. Stocks like Kingfisher Airlines surged by 5.76%, Jet Airways gained 4.35% and SpiceJet rose by 3.79%. Other major news included a rating revision by Fitch. Fitch Ratings revised the Outlook on the 'BBB-' Long-Term (LT) Foreign Currency (FC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of India-based financial institutions from Stable to Negative. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of advances. Of the 2853 stocks traded on the BSE, 1617 (56.68%) rose, 1090 (38.21%) fell and 146 (5.12%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices four closed in red zone, remaining nine sectors closed in green zone. Top Gainers: BSE Metal (up by 1.28%), BSE CG (rose by 1.17%), BSE HC (gained by 1.16%). Top Losers: BSE IT (down by 0.41%), BSE TECk (fell by 0.41%), BSE FMCG (down by 0.20%). Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- Astrazeneca Pharma (rose by 5.62%), Century Textiles (up by 4.98%) and Hexaware Tech (surged by 4.63%). Top three losers were- TCS (down by 1.71%), Motherson Sumi (declined by 1.67%) and Coal India (fell by 1.53%). Global signals: Asian shares rose on Wednesday as investors bet on a new round of stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve to pep up a flagging U.S. recovery and offset the impact of a deepening euro zone debt crisis. European markets extended the previous session's strong gains in choppy trading on Wednesday, led by cyclical stocks, with investors nervously waiting to see if the U.S. announces some measures to support the economy. US stock index futures pointed towards a higher opening at the Wall Street on Wednesday. Market Outlook: Data to be released in the US on Wednesday: FOMC Meeting Announcement, FOMC Forecasts, Chairman Press Conference and EIA Petroleum Status Report.