Marketnews..

The Indian stock indices seem to be testing the recent tops and the charts point to faltering momentum after six days of gains, indicating a temporal pause to the uptrend. Indian markets are likely to consolidate in a sideways fashion in the wake of an extremely muted session on Wall Street. Trend in Asia is mixed. The Nikkei is down while Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks are up as they resumed trading after a holiday.

Markets in Europe managed slim gains amid optimism that the debt-strapped nations in the region are tackling the crisis well. But, stocks in Spain declined on reports that it was seeking bailout money. The IMF and the government in Madrid have denied any such plans. The euro is stable around $1.22 while crude is hovering around $77.

Though there has been some relief over the sovereign debt situation in the euro-zone the problem is far from over. It may drag on for many months. Keep that in mind before taking large bets. Back home, the monsoon picture seems to be pretty as of now. Hopefully it would be able to sooth a few frayed nerves after the recent spike in inflation.

Reliance group stocks, particularly the ADAG ones, may remain in the limelight amid relentless newsflow. Meanwhile, RIL may see some action ahead of its AGM in Mumbai tomorrow.

Bajaj Hindusthan's Board will meet to consider the Scheme of amalgamation of Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar and Industries Ltd. (a 75% listed subsidiary) with the company.

Duncans Industries' Board will meet today to consider induction of a strategic investor for the revival of Fertilizer division of the company.

Gayatri Projects' Board will meet today to enter into the business / to make an application with NEDCAP for generation of Non-Convention energy (Solar Power).

FIIs were net buyers of Rs7.84bn in the cash segment on Wednesday on a provisional basis, according to the NSE data. The local institutions were net sellers at Rs1.71bn on the same day. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers of Rs17.44bn. On Tuesday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs6.93bn in the cash segment, as per SEBI data. Mutual Funds were net sellers at Rs1.48bn in the cash segment on the same day.

Sixth straight gain for Sensex

The rally continued on Dalal-Street with the main stock indices extending the winning streak to a sixth straight session on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty has now managed to close above 5200 for the second straight session, indicating renewed strength in the sentiment.

The benchmark indices started off with a positive bias as Asian stocks surged following the overnight gains on Wall Street. The S&P 500 index yesterday closed above the 200-DMA. However, the upswing on local bourses was short-lived as the indexes went on to lose most of the early gains in the mid-afternoon trades.

The indices staged a turnaround after the European markets posted smart gains. After being on the sidelines in the previous week, auto stocks were back in action. IT stocks were also among the notable gainers. On the other hand, PSU and FMCG stocks witnessed some profit booking.The market breadth was negative with 1,443 advances against 1,440 declines. Turnover today was more than Rs1 lakh crores.A few unfavourable proposals for the markets in the revised Direct Tax Code (DTC) kept a lid on gains. Also, there are concerns that the RBI could hike policy rates ahead of its July quarterly review, says Amar Ambani Vice President Research IIFL.

The BSE 30-share Sensex gained 50 points to close at 17,462 and NSE Nifty edged higher by 5 points and ended at 5,228.

Markets in Asia ended in the green; the Nikkei in Japan advanced 1.8%, Australia's S&P/ASX also ended higher by 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was closed and Shanghai index in China edged higher by 0.3%.

European indices were trading in the positive terrain, the DAX in Germany was up 0.5%, the CAC 40 index in France was up 0.4% and the FTSE in the UK was up 0.3%.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, BSE Auto index was the top gainer, up 1.3% followed by BSE IT index, it was up 0.8% and BSE Teck index up 0.7%. Even the BSE Mid-Cap index and the BSE Small-Cap index edged higher 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were MTNL, TTML, Bosch, LITL and Jet Airways. On the other hand, losers included Syndicate Bank, MMTC, Koutons and Voltas.