Key benchmark indices cut losses soon after extending fall to hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. At 13:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 21.12 points or 0.08% at 26,791.66. The Nifty was down 12.95 points or 0.16% at 8,206.95.
The Sensex rose 74.51 points, or 0.28% at the day's high of 26,887.29 in morning trade. The index fell 55.91 points, or 0.2% at the day's low of 26,756.87 in afternoon trade. The Nifty rose 18.45 points, or 0.22% at the day's high of 8,238.35 in morning trade. The index fell 21.05 points, or 0.25% at the day's low of 8,198.85 in afternoon trade, its lowest level since 20 June 2016.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,317 shares fell and 1,063 shares rose. A total of 176 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.01%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.15%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
In the overseas market, European and Asian stocks were trading higher as investors were guardedly optimistic about a "Remain" vote in Britain's make-or-break European Union (EU) referendum. The key event in the UK and Europe this week is the Brexit referendum tomorrow, 23 June 2016, where British voters will decide whether the country should remain a member of the EU or leave it. US stocks closed slightly higher yesterday, 21 June 2016, after trading within a narrow range after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen cautioned that the UK leaving the European Union (EU) posed a risk while new polls showed support for the "stay camp" growing. In her testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen said a victory for the "leave camp" in this week's UK referendum on membership in the EU would pose a significant risk to the US economy and global financial market stability, and reiterated the cautious approach to raising interest rates that the Federal Open Market Committee signaled last week when it stood pat on US interest rates.
Auto stocks were mostly higher. Escorts (up 12.24%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.16%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (up 0.06%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.09%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.75%) and TVS Motor Company (up 0.93%) rose. Tata Motors (down 2.6%), Eicher Motors (down 0.05%) and Ashok Leyland (down 1.76%) fell.
Realty stocks saw mixed trend. DLF (up 0.4%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.21%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (up 1.43%), Phoenix Mills (up 1.46%), Anant Raj Industries (up 1.12%) and Godrej Properties (up 0.56%) rose. Sunteck Realty (down 3.63%), D B Realty (down 0.31%), Unitech (down 0.33%), Sobha (down 0.34%), Oberoi Realty (down 0.44%) and Parsvnath Developers (down 0.76%) fell.
BASF India rose 2.23% after the company said its parent BASF SE, Germany has signed an agreement to acquire Albermarle's global surface treatment business of Chemetall for a consideration of $3.2 billion. Chemetall is a global technology and innovation leader in the metals surface treatment market and is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. For the calendar year 2015, Chemetall clocked global sales of $845 million. BASF India said that the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities and is expected to close by the end of 2016. The products of Chemetall complements BASF's current portfolio by adding highly attractive surface treatment business to its coatings offerings. In India, the coatings business is part of the Functional Material & Solutions segment of the company, BASF said in a statement. The announcement was made before market hours today, 22 June 2016.
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