The Indian benchmark indices ended the day flat, up less than 0.5 per cent. The BSE Sensex ended the day at 17,463 (up 0.2 per cent), while the NSE Nifty ended the day at 5,303 (up 0.3 per cent).
Trading volume and interest on Wednesday was very low, said analysts. “Everyone is now looking forward to some policy action from the Government’s side. But on the equity side there are hardly any triggers,” said Mr Abhinav Angirish, Managing Director of Investonline.in.
Stocks of the metal and realty sectors moved up the most. On the BSE, the metal sector was up 2.1 per cent and the realty sector was up 1.9 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, the top five gainers were Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel, Maruti, Bharti Airtel and SBI. The top five laggards were ONGC, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Wipro, HUL and Coal India.
India Vix, the volatility index, was down 1.6 per cent.
The rupee was trading at Rs. 54.4 against the US dollar.
Buying in metal and realty helped the Sensex move back into the positive zone. The indices had opened nearly 90 points higher but had slipped into the red in mid-session. Both the sectoral indices saw gains of nearly 2 per cent. Oil & gas, FMCG, IT and healthcare were marginally down.
During the session, SBI, L&T, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were the volume toppers.
Dealers said that interest among market players would revive only on global cues, first quarter results and progress of the monsoon.
Market-men are expecting a 25 basis point rate in the Euro zone by the European Central Bank. Also expected is an increase in the Bank of England's asset purchase target for July from GBP 325 billion to GBP 375 billion.
Meanwhile, the IMF on Tuesday said that US would grow at 2 per cent in 2012 and 2.25 per cent in 2013 due to constraints such as housing difficulties, expiration of fiscal stimulus measures, and continued low global demand, particularly in Europe.
“The US remains vulnerable to contagion from an intensification of the euro area debt crisis, which would be transmitted mainly via a generalised increase in risk aversion and lower asset prices, as well as from trade channels,” said the IMF Managing Director, Ms Christine Lagarde, in Washington.