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Indian markets ended flat with positive bias after a highly volatile session on Tuesday as weakness in financial shares offset strength in oil & gas and IT scrips. Today, markets are likely to make negative start as global sentiments turn bearish coupled with rising crude oil prices. Continued selling in FIIs are likely to weight on markets. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,244.44 crore on June 28. There will be some cautiousness with a private report that after a gap, the prices of select varieties of pulses have started rising for the past few days due to a delay in the onset of the southwest monsoon over major growing regions of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Traders may take note of report that The GST Council approved changes in tax rates on some goods and services while allowing states to issue an e-way bill for intra-state movement of gold and precious stones. The Council also cleared a host of compliance procedures for GST-registered businesses along with a GoM report on high-risk tax payers to check evasion. However, some support may come later in the day as RBI data showed the growth in Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) deposits moderated to 10 per cent year-on-year in March 2022, compared to an increase of 11.9 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, A Niti Aayog report has underlined the need for technological improvisation and other incentives to promote electric two-wheeler in the country. Besides, Capital markets regulator Sebi came out with new adjustment rules for dividends in Futures and Options (F&O) scrips. Sebi said it has been decided that the adjustment in derivative contracts shall be carried out in cases where dividends declared are at or above 2 per cent of the market value of underlying stock. There will be some buzz in sugar stocks with a private report that India is considering allowing mills to ship out stocks of raw sugar that have piled up in ports and warehouses. Gaming industry stocks will be in focus as top online skill gaming associations expressed deep concern at reports that the GST rate on online skill games may be increased from existing 18 per cent to 28 per cent. There will be some reaction in Telecom stocks as the telecom department has issued rules for enterprises setting up Captive Non Public Network (CNPN), stipulating a minimum net worth of Rs 100 crore for applicants seeking direct assignment of spectrum from the government. Select port industry stocks will be in limelight with a private report that the government will strengthen capacity and technology at state-owned ports to make them competitive against their private peers.

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as dire consumer confidence data dampened investor optimism and fueled worries over recession and the looming earnings season. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Wednesday following a weak session on Wall Street overnight.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks reversed their early session losses to log modest gains on Tuesday following fag-end buying in Oil & Gas up, Energy and Metal stocks and a recovery in global equities. Markets made negative start and stayed in red for most part of the day, on the back of persistent foreign fund outflows. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,278.42 crore on Monday. Firm crude oil prices in the international market also put pressure on equities. Some concern also came as Crisil in its latest report has said that a fourth of Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have lost 3 per cent or more of their respective market share to big corporations during the Covid pandemic. It analysed MSMEs from 69 sectors and 147 clusters having a revenue of Rs 47 lakh crore or a fourth of India's GDP to arrive at the details on how the small businesses fared during the pandemic. However, key benchmark indices recovered at fag end to close with marginal gains, as traders found some solace with a report by the government think-tank NITI Aayog estimates India’s gig economy could employ 2.35 crore people by FY30, representing a three-and-a-half-times increase over 10 years. The gig economy employed around 68 lakh people in FY20. Some support also came as the electronics and IT ministry has approved a total of 314 applications with proposed investments of Rs 86,824 crore under a modified special incentive package scheme till May 31, 2022. Meanwhile, India and the European Union (EU) resumed negotiations, after a gap of over eight years, for a comprehensive free trade agreement, a move aimed at strengthening economic ties between the two regions. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 16.17 points or 0.03% to 53,177.45 and the CNX Nifty was up by 18.15 points or 0.11% to 15,850.20.

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