The uptrend is not broken but the market is finding it tough to head higher. The Sensex has to close above 17,900 over the next few days

The market closed a choppy trading session on a flat note. The Sensex settled at 17,730, down 25 points (0.1%) and the Nifty closed at 5,320, down 2.5 points (0.05%). The benchmarks started the day in the green, taking cues from Asian markets. The market was range-bound till the early afternoon session. It pared its gains on the negative opening in European markets to end marginally lower.

Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trading session today. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan were up by 0.05% to 0.8%. Markets in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong were down 0.1% to 0.8%.

US markets ended steady in a volatile session on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve downgraded its assessment of the economic recovery and it vowed to keep easy money flowing. The Dow was up 4.9 points (0.05%) at 10,298. The S&P 500 was down 3.2 points (0.3%) to close at 1,092. The Nasdaq was down 7.5 points (0.3%) to close at 2,254. The Fed held overnight rates in the zero to 0.25% range, set in December 2008. The recent job and housing market reports had raised doubts about the economy.

Japan's annual growth slowed for the third consecutive month in May. Exports rose 32.1% in the year to May on gains in shipments of cars, steel and semiconductors, less than the median forecast for a 36.9% rise, the Japanese ministry of finance said. Exports to Asia, which account for more than half of Japan's total shipments, increased 34.4% from a year earlier, slower than a 45.2% annual increase in the previous month.

Back home, the food price index rose 16.9% in the year to 12th June, higher than the previous week's annual reading of 16.1%. The fuel price index remained unchanged at 13.18% in the year to 12th June.

The monsoon is 11.1% below normal for the period between 1st and 23rd June. India will ship at least 2 million tonnes (MT) of wheat if the monsoon is normal. The country's wheat stocks stood at 35.2MT as of 1st June, nearly nine times the government-set target of 4MT, while the rice inventory was at 25.3MT, sharply up from a target of 12.2MT.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of equities worth Rs265 crore on Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors were net sellers of Rs866 crore worth of stocks. 

McNally Bharat Engineering Company (down 1.1%) has received an order for supply of an ash water recirculation & treatment system package for the Singrauli super-thermal power station for Rs41.4 crore.

Core K12, the US education arm of Core Projects & Technologies (up 5.5%), has bagged a contract covering 375 schools from the Los Angeles Unified School District to design and implement a comprehensive formative assessment programme for nearly 700,000 students. The contract, worth $24 million, involves diagnostic testing for all key subjects, at all grade levels.

Reliance Industries (RIL) (down 0.7%) has announced that its subsidiary, Reliance Eagleford Upstream LP, has executed definitive agreements to enter into a joint venture with US-based Pioneer Natural Resources Company under which Reliance will acquire 45% interest in Pioneer's core Eagle Ford Shale acreage position in two separate transactions. Pioneer and Newpek LLC, Pioneer's current partner in the Eagle Ford, will simultaneously convey 45% of their respective interests in the Eagle Ford to Reliance.

Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) (up 1.1%) has been classified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an 'Infrastructure Finance Company' within the overall classification of a 'Non Banking Finance Company.'