Markets remain flat; Bajaj Auto, Hindalco top gainers

Markets are trading absolutely flat with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.

Benchmark share indices ended at record closing highs yesterday as the cut in statutory liquidity ratio by the Reserve Bank of India at its policy meet today will help inject liquidity, paving the way for credit growth revival.

By 9:30, the Sensex was higher by 59 points at 24,917 mark and the Nifty gained by 10 points at 7,426 mark.

On the global front, Asian shares edged down on Wednesday but remained close to recent highs, while the dollar benefited from rising US Treasury yields and pressure stayed on the euro ahead of expected easing steps from the European Central Bank.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped about 0.3%, pulling away from last week's one-year high.

Japan's Nikkei stock average inched slightly down from Tuesday's 2-month closing high, though a weaker yen limited losses and helped traders stay optimistic.

US stocks dipped in thin volume on Tuesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 retreating from Monday's record closing levels as traders found few reasons to buy following a string of gains. A rise in semiconductor companies' shares limited losses.

Back home, Markit Economics will unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for May 2014 today.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 575.09 crore on Tuesday, 3 June 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

On teh sectoral front, BSE Consumer Durables index has surged by over 1% followed by counters like Caital Goods, Realty, Auto and Healthcare, all gaining between 0.1-1%. However, financials and IT shares are trading marginally in negative zone.

The main gainers on the Sensex are Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, GAIL, Tata Motors and Tata Steel.

On the losing side, M&M, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC and Axis Bank have declined by nearly 1% each.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices by nearly 1% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains 1,001 shares advancing and 312 shares declining.