MARKETS TRADE IN A TIGHT BAND

Indian equity indices are displaying listless performance in the afternoon session of trade as they look to consolidate their position after the vivacious over eight hundred fifty points rally in last three sessions. The benchmarks appeared exhausted as they gradually crawled sideways in a tight band around the previous closing levels, lacking any significant upside triggers. The upside chances for local bourses was limited as investors took profits off the table from the Oil and Gas counter post its smart rally in the previous session. Rebound in Brent crude oil prices which forms part of India's crude basket also prompted investors to sell shares of oil companies. Selling pressure was also witnessed in high beta real estate, defensive FMCG and information technology names while index heavyweight Reliance Industries too failed to make its presence felt, declining by over half a percent points and adding pressure on the frontline indices. However, gains in bellwethers from the Capital goods, Healthcare and Metal counters provided the much needed support to the sentiments and capped the downside risks. Domestic benchmarks even overlooked the optimism in global markets which rose as an agreement by French banks to roll over Greek debt and talks that European officials were working on a contingency plan for Greece if its parliament rejected an austerity plan improved investors' risk appetite. Majority of Asian equity indices traded in the green zone while, the European counterparts too exhibited positive trends.
Back home, the broader markets are showing some resilience in the afternoon session and are trading with well over half a percent gains, outclassing their larger peers by quite a margin. The bourses consolidated on weaker volumes as compared to yesterday. The market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1305:1219 while 120 scrips remained unchanged.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,424.20 up by 11.79 points or 0.06% after trading as high as 18,527.45 and as low as 18,323.44. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.
The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices advanced by 0.57% and 0.49% respectively. 
On the BSE sectoral space, Capital Goods up 0.71%, Healthcare up 0.57%, Metal up 0.55%, Power up 0.47% and Auto up 0.46% were the major gainers, while Oil & Gas down 0.70%, Realty down 0.65%, IT down 0.56%, FMCG down 0.47% and  Teck down 0.18% were the major losers on the index.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 2.59%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.02%, HDFC up by 1.26%, Sterlite up 1.24% and BHEL up 1.18%.
On the flip side, JP Associates down by 2.50%, DLF down by 2.28%, Wipro down 1.67%, ITC down 0.98% and RIL down 0.65% were the only losers on the index.
On a three day visit to India, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said, New Zealand hopes to conclude the proposed Free Trade Agreement with India by March next year. The bilateral trade between India and New Zealand has been well below the potential, last year it's crossed $1 billion, and both the nations have set the target of trebling bilateral trade to $3 billion in four years.
John Key said, "We expect it to be signed by March 2012". However, Key added that the conclusion would depend on the quality of agreement and negotiations.  India and New Zealand already have completed around five rounds of negotiations, India is hopeful to get more market access for its professionals through the FTA and New Zealand is trying to get entry in India's dairy market. 'These things are always delicate and, as we know from the negotiations with Korea, you can hit speed bumps along the way, but I'm confident they want to do a deal,' he added.
During his visit, John Key will meet India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and foreign minister S M Krishna on June 28 and will also address a meeting of industrialist from both the nations.

New Zealand is ready to offer more access to Indian Professionals. However, the stress is on the skill level of professionals, Tim Groser New Zealand Trade Minister said, 'We cannot allow unqualified people knocking our front doors and doing a poor job. Indian professionals who can benefit from this FTA, includes teachers, healthcare providers, technicians, IT experts, architects and hospitality providers, among others. New Zealand is seeking to get more access in India dairy sector for its dairy industry, as India has kept the sector largely closed.

Last year, India and New Zealand started their negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, an FTA, last year, that includes, goods services and investment, both the nation's leaders are also expected to discuss on issues like energy cooperation, including civil nuclear.
In April 2007, the Indian Minister of Commerce & Industry and the New Zealand Minister of Trade agreed to pursue this objective by undertaking a joint study into the feasibility of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement / Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,523.90, lower by 2.35 points or 0.05% after trading as high as 5,558.30 and as low as 5,496.35. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 declines on the index.
The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.35%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.79%, BHEL up by 1.29%, Sterlite up by 1.24% and HDFC up by 1.23%.
JP Associates down by 2.50%, Cairn down by 2.38%, DLF down by 2.19%, GAIL down by 1.85% and Wipro down 1.72% were the major losers on the index.
Asian markets are exhibiting positive trends as Shanghai Composite rose 0.11%, Hang Seng added 0.04%, Jakarta Composite gained 0.33%, KLSE Composite inched up 0.19%, Nikkei 225 climbed 0.74% and Straits Times increased 0.07%.
On the flipside, Seoul Composite slipped 0.36% and Taiwan Weighted declined 0.25%.
The European markets have opened on an optimistic note as France's CAC 40 added 0.27%, Germany's DAX advance 0.43% and London's FTSE rose 0.30%.