The frontline Indian equity benchmarks have advanced modestly in the early minutes of trade today, with the BSE Sensex hitting 17,700 and the Nifty trading above the 5,350 mark. Both the main indices are up by ~0.5% each so far. The broader indices have notched slender gains as well, leading to a positive market breadth.

At 9:22am (IST), the BSE Sensex was trading at 17,699, up 98 points  over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day's high of 17,702 and a day's low of 17,610. It opened at 17,612..

The NSE Nifty was quoting at 5,362, up 24 points over the previous close. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5,368 and a day’s low of 5,348. It opened at 5,348.

RIL, Infosys, Wipro, Sun Pharma, TCS, ICICI Bank'> ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Coal India, NTPC, Tata Power, M&M, ICICI Bank,Hero MotoCorp are among the notable leaders in the Sensex and the Nifty.

Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Tata Steel are the top laggards in the Sensex and the Nifty.

The BSE Small-Cap index and BSE Mid-Cap index are trading flat.

Metal, Auto, PSU, FMCG, Power, PSU, HC, Teck, Realty,Bankex, Consumer Durables , Bankex,Oil and Gas and Capital Good , IT  indices are the gainers.

Auto, Realty, PSU, Power and Consumer Durables indices are pacing the rally so far in the session. Most other sectoral indices are also trading with a positive bias. The INDIA VIX is marginally lower.

The recent rally appears to be losing steam as shown by Wednesday’s tame end. Any material gains from here on are contingent upon the Centre walking the talk on reforms. Reports say there is very little consensus among states on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. News of an impending diesel price hike has been doing the rounds for a quite a while as well. The UPA II’s resolve on reforms will also be tested in the ongoing monsoon session of parliament.

A spate of private research outfits have slashed India’s FY13 GDP growth forecast. A failed southwest monsoon has added to the long list of macro-economic problems. Data on credit offtake, deposit mobilisation and overseas borrowings is pretty bleak. Friday’s IIP data for June is likely to be disappointing as well.

The opening today was higher, as expected, as FIIs continue to pump money into Indian equities. Asian markets are mixed while Chinese stocks are subdued despite data showing a drop in consumer inflation to a fresh 2-1/2 year low in July. Investors are now awaiting the release of industrial production data for more signals on the outlook for the Chinese economy. Main stock indices in the US and Europe finished flat overnight.

The Bank of Korea has today kept borrowing costs at a 14-month low after a surprise cut in July. Japan core machinery orders rise but miss forecast. Australia's jobless rate declined to 5.2% in July.

Indian frontline stock indices ended on a flat note on Wednesday after a failed attempt to surpass the resistance of 5360. The Nifty chart shows a doji star pattern on candlestick. An appearance of a negative divergence in RSI with overbought positions is a cause for concern. A move below 5300 could confirm a trend reversal.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday told Parliament that postponing the implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) of income tax will in no way impact the efficacy of measures taken against proliferation of black money. 

The Government on Wednesday maintained that even as it had been taking a number of fiscal and administrative measures to contain price rise, it was the rupee's steep fall that had been contributing to inflationary pressures.

The rupee on Wednesday snapped its three-day string of gains to end at 55.42, down 35 paise against the US dollar.

Coal India will revise its fuel supply pact with power units commissioned after Dec. 2009 to include new agreed clauses, which involve higher penalty for short supply.

Holders of insurance policies with the sum assured five times the annual premium may soon become eligible for a tax rebate, according to a financial newspaper.

A day ahead of the release of the IIP numbers for June, fewer respondents in a survey conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are optimistic about higher manufacturing growth.

Key Results Today: Adani Enterprises, AKZOINDIA, Anant Raj Inds, Ansal Properties Infrastructure, Apollo India, Eicher Motors, Elder Pharmaceuticals, Fresenius Kabi, GMR Infra, Great Eastern Shipping, Gujarat State Petronet, HPCL, IFCI, Indian Oil Corp, Jindal Stainless, Kingfisher Airlines, Max India, Motherson Sumi, NCC, NELCO, Ranbaxy Labs, Rashtriya Chemicals Fertilizers, Shyam Telecom, Talwalkar, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Trident, Welspun India.

Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net buyers of Rs.11.14bn in the cash segment on Wednesday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs.7.94bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.

The FIIs were net buyers at Rs 10.20bn in the F&O segment on Wednesday, according to the provisional NSE data. 

The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs. 8.62bn in the cash segment on Tuesday, according to the SEBI figures. 

Global Data Watch today: Foreign investment in Japanese stocks and bonds, Japanese machinery orders, Japan's money supply, China Consumer Price Index (Jul), China Producer Price Index (Jul), Australia Unemployment Rate (Jul), Australia Employment Change (Jul), Japan BOJ Interest Rate Decision, BOJ Monetary Policy Statement and press conference, Japan Consumer Confidence Index (Jul), China Industrial Production (Jul), China Retail Sales (Jul), Japan Machine Tool Orders (Jul), ECB Monthly Report, Italy trade balance, UK Trade Balance (Jun), US Initial Jobless Claims (Aug 4), US Continuing Jobless Claims (Jul 28), US Trade Balance (Jun), US Wholesale Inventories (Jun) and US 30-year Bond Auction.