Sensex ekes out slim gains...Nifty ends above 4850

A rather choppy trading session ended with modest gains for the Indian equity indices, extending the upswing from the previous session. The NSE Nifty opened higher and climbed up further to hit an intra-day high of 4,898 in the fist half. From there on, it saw a gradual decline in the second half amid selling pressure in Realty, FMCG, Consumer Durables and Metals sectors. The frontline indices erased most of their day's gains in a sudden turnaround in the fortunes of Indian shares, as the European markets came off day's highs following the release of downbeat service PMI reports. However, the Indian markets managed to end off day's lows after the announcement that monsoon has fully covered the southern state of Kerala. Another booster was data showing improvement in India's services PMI and the Government announcing a seven-point strategy to improve exports. The BSE Sensex ended at 16,020, gaining by 0.2% or 32 points. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 16,138 and a day’s low of 15,979. It opened at 16,065. The NSE Nifty settled at 4863, up by 15 points or 0.3%. It touched a day’s low of 4,847 and day’s high of 4,898. L&T, Grasim, Reliance Infra, IDFC, Cairn, NTPC, BHEL, Bank Baroda, Power Grid, SBI and HDFC Bank were the notable gainers on the Sensex and the Nifty today. Ambuja Cement, Tata Motors, Siemens, Bharti Airtel, ITC, BPCL and DLF were the top losers on the Sensex and Nifty. The INDIA VIX on the NSE gained by 2.6% to close at 26.26. It hit days high of 26.69. It hit a low of 24.27. The market breadth on the BSE was positive, 1406 stocks advanced and 1291 stocks declined. Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Capital Goods index was the top gainer, rising by 2% followed by BSE Banking index, up 1%. The BSE Power index gained 0.8% and the BSE Oil & Gas index rose 0.7%. On the other hand, the BSE Realty index was the biggest loser, down 1.3% followed by FMCG, Consumer Durables and Metals indices. The BSE Mid-Cap index and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma exuded confidence that India would be able to sustain 20% export growth in the current fiscal year. India's exports grew by 21% in FY12 to touch US$303bn. Zero-duty Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG) has been extended by a year, Sharma said, adding that the interest subvention scheme for exports has also been extended by a year. India is on track to double exports by 2014, but demand in USA and Europe will take time to pick up, Sharma said in New Delhi. He released annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy for the fiscal year 2012-13. India's services sector grew at its fastest pace in three months last month, and companies turned more optimistic about the prospects for growth in the coming months, a survey done by HSBC Holding Plc showed on Tuesday. The service sector purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by Markit, rose to 54.7 in May from 52.8 in the previous month. It has been above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since November. The services sector contributes about 55% of India's GDP. Meanwhile, Nomura India said today it is changing its policy rate call and now expects 50 basis point of additional repo rate cuts in 2012, compared with its earlier forecast of 25 bps reduction, due to a continued weakness in domestic demand and rising downside risks to the global growth outlook. In Asia, most equity markets finished with healthy gains after China's services PMI showed an improvement in May over April. The Nikkei index in Japan ended higher by 1%, while, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.5%. Asian markets closed higher, as investors turned optimistic ahead of a meeting of Group of Seven (G-7) officials to discuss the ongoing eurozone credit crisis. China's services industry expanded at its fastest pace for 19 months in May, spurred by strength in new business, according to a private-sector survey of purchasing managers. The HSBC China Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in May, extending from April's six-month peak of 54.1. The survey's compiler, Markit, cited new business growth as the key driver of the index. However, the result remained below the long-run trend of 56.7, HSBC said in a statement. The DAX stock index in Germany fell after data on services PMI came in weaker than estimated. The euro too retreated from the day's peak while the dollar index inched higher. Earlier, the euro had risen above $1.25 mark on hope of a positive outcome of today's G-7 conference call on the euro debt crisis. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that ministers and central bankers of the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany, France and Italy would hold a special conference call. G-7 members would have more talks today ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 in two weeks, he said.