Sensex up 102 points; Hindalco up 7%, Maruti soars 6%, IT weak

03:55 pm SBI's bad loans
State Bank of India (SBI) Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said she does not have a magic wand to deal with bad loans, which soared to Rs 61,605.35 crore at the end of March.

Pinning hopes on the economy reviving, she said, "We are seeing some lessening of stress but...there is no magic wand, we have to work through our way. As the GDP goes up, demand goes up, the capital market will begin to respond, people are able to raise equity, we will see things becoming better."

SBI's gross non-performing assets rose to Rs 61,605.35 crore, or 4.95 percent of total advances, at the end of March from Rs 51,189.39 crore, or 4.75 percent, in 2012-13.

The bank's net profit tanked to Rs 10,891.17 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 14,104.98 in the previous financial year.

03:45 pm Monsoon woes
Jai Prakash Sharma looked gloomily into the chilling tanks at the Mewat milk cooperative: they are only half full these days, thanks to a delay in India's annual monsoon rains that has robbed cattle fodder of nutritious moisture.

"If there are not sufficient rains in the next few days, some farmers may start selling animals for slaughtering," said Sharma, manager of a cooperative in Haryana that supplies milk to the capital, New Delhi.

As dairy farmers fret over the risk to earnings due to the vagaries of the monsoon, the squeeze in supplies of milk is adding to inflationary pressures that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government inherited when it came to power in May.

03:35 pm Market closing
After a strong upmove, the market ended on a firm note. The Sensex was up 102.57 points at 25516.35 and the Nifty ended up 23.35 points at 7634.70. About 1877 shares advanced, 1166 shares declined and 122 shares were unchanged.

Hindalco was up 7 percent as CLSA upgraded the stock with a bullish target that it will double in four years. Maruti rose 6 percent on the back of its June sales data.

Tata Motors, M&M and Tata Steel are other top gainers in the Sensex. IT stocks were under severe selling pressure. Wipro, TCS, Sun Pharma, NTPC and Reliance were major laggards.

03:20 pm Rangarajan report
C Rangarajan, former chief of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), has submitted a report on Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty to Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh.
 
"I met Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh yesterday in Delhi and submitted the report on poverty," Rangarajan told PTI.
 
The Planning Commission in May 2012 had constituted the expert group under the then PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty, following an uproar over the number of poor in the country.
 
The report of the expert group is expected to clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country.

03:10 pm Buget hopes
Ketan Dalal of Pricewaterhouse Coopers is expecting a clear policy statement on retrospective amendment, as it has been hurting many small companies as well, in addition to large companies like Vodafone. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Dalal said implementation of the Good and Services Tax will be a top priority for the government in the Budget.

He also expects the exemption limit under Section 80C to be hiked from the current Rs 1 lakh as the government tries to boost domestic savings.

03:00pm Ricoh India in News
Ricoh India says the board of directors at its meeting today has approved the issue of non convertible debentures by way of private placement.

The board will conduct postal ballot to seek approval of members of the company in respect of issuance of non convertible debentures, borrowing money in excess of aggregate of paid up share capital & free reserves, and creating charge/mortgage on the assets to secure borrowings of money upto an amount not exceeding Rs 300 crore. The stock gained 3 percent.

02:50pm Ahluwalia Contracts surges 7.5%
Ahluwalia Contracts (India) says the board of directors at its meeting has approved the preferential allotment of equity shares to the promoters of the company for a value not exceeding Rs 50 crore.

The board also gave approval for reviewing of the existing borrowing limit of the company and for postponement of the proposed right issue.

02:40pm FII View
Jitendra Sriram, MD & Head of Research at HSBC India says concerns relating to deficient monsoons are weighing on market. However, he says there is some degree of optimism that the upcoming Budget will focus on investment cycle recovery. He expects to see shift in policy environment and a tighter-than-expected Budget.

"We expect the new government will create a platform for rebuilding economy," he told CNBC-TV18. He believes market will any sort of a fiscal consolidation in the Budget positively. He sees repair work in FY15 than fresh measures to kick start the growth engine. He is also no expecting any big tax cuts in the Budget.

The market is currently moving higher on positive sentiment. Sriram is positive on the market in the long-term but expects to see short-term concerns. "We think metals could do well if there is domestic-led recovery," he says.

02:30pm Marico Kaya Enterprises lists on NSE & BSE
Marico Kaya Enterprises (MaKE) listed on the NSE and BSE. MaKE is a holding company of Kaya, which currently owns and operates 86 Kaya Skin Clinics in 26 cities in India.

"MaKE being listed independently reflects the beginning of a new journey for Kaya. We believe that Kaya has a distinct potential to create value as an emerging specialized skincare business. With a focused management and increased flexibility, Kaya is well poised to reach newer heights," says Harsh Mariwala, chairman & whole-time director, MaKE.

The stock gained 12 percent to Rs 237.50 while Marico gained over 2 percent.

02:20pm ITI bags BSNL order
ITI has bagged two advance purchase orders from BSNL amounting to Rs 2,984 crore,
the company said today.

The orders are part of Network For Spectrum (NFS) project for establishment of Optical Fibre Network throughout the country, ITI said in a release.

It said ITI is the only Central Public Sector Undertaking to bag two packages out of seven packages for NFS tender against stiff competition from multiple players, reports PTI.

02:10pm Gartner cuts 2014 global IT spend growth forecast
IT research firm Gartner has trimmed its worldwide IT spend growth estimate for 2014 to  2.1 percent, from 3.2 percent earlier. Gartner estimates global IT spending at USD 3.7 trillion this year. The weaker outlook for 2014 is due to a reduction in growth expectations for devices, data center systems and to some extent IT services, a release by Gartner said.

''Price pressure based on increased competition, lack of product differentiation and the increased availability of viable alternative solutions has had a dampening effect on the short term IT spending outlook,'' said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, in the release.

02:00pm The 30-share BSE Sensex continued to hold the 25500 level led by support from auto, metals and capital goods stocks. The index climbed 129.43 points to 25543.21 while the Nifty rose 28.60 points to 7639.95.

About 1822 shares have advanced, 1100 shares declined, and 114 shares are unchanged. The BSE Midcap Index gained 0.66 percent and Smallcap rallied 1.3 percent.

Aluminium major Hindalco Industries kept its top position in the buying list, up 7 percent after CLSA has upgraded the stock to buy from sell rating with a target price of Rs 215 and upgraded FY15-17 EBITDA by 6-9 percent.

Car maker Maruti Suzuki rallied 6.5 percent to hit fresh record high of Rs 2598 on the BSE after strong sales growth in June. It sold 1.12 lakh units in June, up 33.5 percent (up 12 percent month-on-month) compared to a year-ago period supported by sales of passenger cars like Alto, A-Star, WagonR, Dzire.

Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors gained 4.5 percent on hopes of good sales numbers in the month gone by. Mahindra and Mahindra rose 4 percent after it sold 38,471 vehicles in June as against 37,869 units in May and 38,092 units in a year-ago period.

Shares of ICICI Bank, L&T, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Sesa Sterlite, Hero Motocorp and BHEL surged 1-3 percent. However, TCS, HDFC, Infosys, Wipro and Sun Pharma fell 0.9-1.5 percent.

1:40 pm Reaction to PMI: India's manufacturing PMI, rose to 51.5 in June from 51.4 in May, led by higher output and a pickup in export orders. According to brokerage house Nomura, manufacturing activity has stabilised and a gradual improvement is underway.

''This is also corroborated by the pickup in auto sales in May and early indications of an improvement in June as well, which suggest that the change in sentiment is resulting in a release of suppressed discretionary demand,'' said the Nomura note to clients.

Nomura sees weak monsoon tempering rural demand this year, but estimates real GDP growth to rise from around 5.0 percent in FY15 to around 6.5 percent in FY16, led by a revival in the investment cycle and the government?s efforts to resolve supply-side bottlenecks in the economy.

1:30 pm Interview: Delayed monsoons continue to play havoc. Amongst consumer oriented companies, Dabur has an exposure of approximately 40-50 percent to rural markets. Speaking to CNBC-TV Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India says that weak monsoon will put pressure on margins and fuels inflation but won't further destroy overall demand.

"Overall demand side has been soft for the last two quarters and I don't think it will deteriorate further," he said.

1:20 pm price hike: Price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was today hiked by Rs 16.50 per cylinder and that of jet fuel by over half-a-per cent after international oil prices surged due to the ongoing Iraq crisis. The increase in rates of non-subsidised LPG and ATF accompanies the Rs 1.69 a litre hike in petrol and 50 paisa a litre in diesel announced yesterday.

The price of non-subsidised LPG, which customers buy after using up their quota of 12 subsidised cylinders, was raised by Rs 16.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder, the first hike in six months. Each non-subsidised 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder will now cost Rs 922.50 in Delhi, up from Rs 906, according to Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm.

The market is firmly in the green with the Nifty trading close to 7,650 mark. The Nifty is up 23.05 points at 7634.40 while the Sensex is up 101.96 points at 25515.74. About 1808 shares have advanced,1073 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged.

Maruti gains in trade as the company posts strong June auto sales data. Total sales are up 33.5 percent and exports up 58.4 percent. Management says increased footfalls have converted to sales and June market share of 48.5 percent is the highest is in the last 4-5 years.

Hindalco is up 7 percent and Maruti is up 5 percent while Tata Motors, M&M and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggrads are Wipto, TCS, Sun Pharma, Infosys and HDFC.

The rupee trades marginally higher against the dollar following poor US economic data. However, rise in April-May fiscal gap weighs on the rupee.

01:00pm Punj Lloyd bags order
Diversified global EPC conglomerate, Punj Lloyd has received a letter of award for expansion and revamping of Ahmadi Deport, Kuwait from Kuwait National Petroleum Company

"This project is valued at Rs 1,418 crore and is scheduled for completion in 35 months," says the company in its filing.

With this new order, the group's order backlog stands at Rs 22,063 crore.

12:50pm M&M June sales data
Utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra sold 38,471 vehicles in June as against 37,869 units in May and 38,092 units in a year-ago period.

Domestic sales of the company increased 2.7 percent month-on-month (up 0.7 percent Y-o-Y) to 36,457 units while exports rose 6.8 percent year-on-year (down 15 percent M-o-M) to 2,014 units in June.

However, passenger vehicle sales declined to 16,780 from 18,085 units M-o-M and 17,232 units Y-o-Y. The stock gained 3.7 percent.

12:45pm LPG price hike
The government has raised price of non-subsidised LPG by Rs 16.50 per cylinder, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting PTI.

Indian Oil Corporation on Monday hiked petrol prices by Rs 1.69 per litre and retail diesel prices by 50 paise per litre (excluding state levies).

12:40pm HCC surges 5%
HCC says its real estate subsidiary Lavasa Corporation has filed draft red herring prospectus with capital markets regulator Sebi for public issue. The company aims to raise Rs 750 crore through this public issue.

Hindustan Construction Company holds a 65 percent stake in Lavasa. Gautam Thapar-controlled Avantha Group is the second-largest shareholder with a 16 percent stake. Other shareholders are Venkatesh Hatcharies (13 percent) and Pune-based investor Vinay Maniar (6 percent).

12:30pm Veer Energy in News
Veer Energy has signed expression of interest with wind turbine manufacturer for sale of an exclusively, indefeasible right to use the transmission rights granted by GETCO for power evacuation of 30 MW, along with government waste land allotted to the company on lease basis.

12:20pm Interview
Mayank Pareek, COO (Marketing and Sales) at Maruti Suzuki said the footfall has started getting converted into sales.

Its total vehicle sales in June came in at 112,773 units, up 33.5 percent compared to 84,455 units during the same month last year. Maruti's numbers were better than analyst expectations.

Pareek said WagonR was its top seller with 17,000 units sold in June. ''There was a big surge in first-time car buyers,'' he told CNBC-TV18. He said exchange sales have grown 34 percent in the month of June. A good turnaround was also seen in the last 5-6 weeks.

Exports during the month rose by 58.4 per cent to 11,809 units as compared to 7,453 units in June last year. However, Pareek is not so bullish on exports for FY15.

Maruti is planning for a healthy double-digit growth in car sales for FY15. Its market share for June was at 45.8 percent.

Pareek said the auto major saw higher retail sales compared to wholesales in June, which he feels is a very positive sign for the industry. He said the high discount offers though likely to continue, may taper down July onwards.

12:10pm Manufacturing PMI rises
India's manufacturing sector growth in June expanded at the fastest pace since February, supported by growing order flows, especially from overseas, an HSBC survey said today.

The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a measure of factory production, rose marginally from 51.4 in May to 51.5 in June as operating conditions improved for the eighth month in succession.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth while a lower reading means contraction.

12:00pm The market remained firm in noon trade with the Sensex rising 127.33 points to 25541.11 and the Nifty gaining 30.90 points to 7642.25 supported by auto, metals, capital goods and select banks stocks.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. About 1707 shares have advanced, 948 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

Auto stocks saw hefty buying interest with the BSE Auto Index trading at record high, up 2.6 percent post strong auto sales data in June by Maruti Suzuki.

Maruti rallied over 4 percent, trading at all-time high after showing 33.5 percent growth in June sales at 1.12 lakh units Y-o-Y. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto gained 2.5-3.5 percent on hopes of good sales numbers in June.

However, technology stocks underperformed with the TCS, Infosys and Wipro falling 0.8-1 percent.

12:00 pm PMI: Indian factory activity expanded in June at its quickest pace since February while output prices rose at the fastest rate in eight months, signalling a further rise in inflation that is bound to vex the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a business survey showed.

The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, advanced to 51.5 in June from 51.4 in May. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.

A jump in new export orders pushed the output sub-index to 52.4 from 51.7 in the previous two months.

"Things are gradually improving in India's manufacturing sector. Output picked up in June, supported by growing order flows, especially from overseas," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC.

11:50 am Interview: Delayed monsoons continue to play havoc. Amongst consumer oriented companies, Dabur has an exposure of approximately 40-50 percent to rural markets. Speaking to CNBC-TV Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India says that weak monsoon will put  pressure on margins and fuels inflation but won't further destroy overall demand.

"Overall demand side has been soft for the last two quarters and I don't think it will deteriorate further," he said.

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Emami jumped 5 percent intraday as it firming up plans for aggressive growth. The group is looking to buy out 33 percent stake held by the Todis' of Shrachi Group in the AMRI hospital chain within a month.

"Emami group will buy out the stake held by the Todis within a month," Emami group chairman RS Agarwal said. The decision to buy out the stake in AMRI, Agarwal said, was that the Todis wanted to sell their shareholding and also because of the severe losses incurred after the fire at Dhakuria hospital in December 2010.

The West Bengal government has a notional one percent stake in the hospital venture, while the balance would be held by the Emami Group. The Dhakuria branch of AMRI, the key revenue driver, was closed after the fire in which 91 patients were killed.

11:30 am Market outlook: Jitendra Sriram, MD & Head of Research at HSBC India says concerns relating to deficient monsoons are weighing on market. However, he says there is some degree of optimism that the upcoming Budget will focus on investment cycle recovery. He expects to see shift in policy environment and a tighter-than-expected Budget.

"We expect the new government will create a platform for rebuilding economy," he told CNBC-TV18. He believes market will any sort of a fiscal consolidation in the Budget positively. He sees repair work in FY15 than fresh measures to kick start the growth engine. He is also no expecting any big tax cuts in the Budget.

11:20 am Stock in news: Shares of Maruti Suzuki touched a record high of Rs 2,532, up 3.84 percent intraday after India's largest car maker reported strong sales data in the month of June.

It sold 1.12 lakh units in June, up 33.5 percent (up 12 percent month-on-month) compared to a year-ago period supported by sales of passenger cars like Alto, A-Star, WagonR, Dzire.

Mayank Pareek, COO, marketing and sales says the footfall has started getting converted into sales. We saw a big surge in first-time car buyers and a good turnaround in the last 5-6 weeks," he adds. According to him, retail sales was higher in June compared to wholesales, which is a very positive sign for the industry.

The market is still holding firm as investors are hoping for a pre-Budget rally. The Sensex is up 86.65 points at 25500.43 and the Nifty is up 21.15 points at 7632.50. About 1561 shares have advanced, 813 shares declined, and 108 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, Maruti, M&M, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel are gainers while Wipro, Infosys, TCS, GAIL and Sun Pharma are major laggards in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in Asia's industrial powerhouses China and Japan gained pace in June, fuelled mainly by improving demand at home, but a long-awaited bounce in exports remained slow in coming.

Manufacturing surveys on Tuesday confirmed preliminary readings last month that showed factory output expanding across Asia following months of decline in its two biggest economies. China's final HSBC/Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.7, slightly below its preliminary reading, but confirming its first expansion in six months, from 49.4 in May.

10:55am June factory activity grows
Indian factory activity expanded in June at its quickest pace since February while output prices rose at the fastest rate in eight months, signalling a further rise in inflation that is bound to vex the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a business survey showed on Tuesday.

The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, advanced to 51.5 in June from 51.4 in May. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.

A jump in new export orders pushed the output sub-index to 52.4 from 51.7 in the previous two months, reports Reuters.

10:40am Sasken wins arbitration award
Sasken Communication Technologies has received arbitration award in its favour in the matter of Spreadtrum Communications. "The award recognises that the agreement between the parties is in full force and as a result, Spreadtrum has been directed to pay USD 31.7 million within 30 days, towards royalties and interest on unpaid royalties," it says.

10:30am Maruti Suzuki in News
Shares of Maruti Suzuki gained 3 percent after India's largest car maker sold 1.12 lakh units in June, up 33.5 percent (up 12 percent month-on-month) compared to a year-ago period.

Total exports of the company shot up 58.4 percent year-on-year (14 percent M-o-M) to 11,809 units in June. Utility vehicle sales increased 0.1 percent Y-o-Y to 5,003 units.

Other auto stocks like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto advanced 1-3 percent on hopes of better sales numbers in June.

10:20am Emami on buyers' radar
The Emami group would buy out 33 percent stake held by the Todis' of Shrachi Group in the AMRI hospital chain within a month.

"Emami group will buy out the stake held by the Todis within a month," Emami group chairman R S Agarwal told reporters at the Merchants Chamber of Commerce.

The decision to buy out the stake in AMRI, Agarwal said, was that the Todis wanted to sell their shareholding and also because of the severe losses incurred after the fire at Dhakuria hospital in December 2010.

The West Bengal government has a notional one percent stake in the hospital venture, while the balance would be held by the Emami Group.

The Dhakuria branch of AMRI, the key revenue driver, was closed after the fire in which 91 patients were killed, reports PTI.

The stock gained 2.3 percent.

10:10am FII View
Jitendra Sriram, MD & Head of Research at HSBC India says concerns relating to deficient monsoons are weighing on market. However, he says there is some degree of optimism that the upcoming Budget will focus on investment cycle recovery. He expects to see shift in policy environment and a tighter-than-expected Budget.

"We expect the new government will create a platform for rebuilding economy," he told CNBC-TV18. He believes market will any sort of a fiscal consolidation in the Budget positively. He sees repair work in FY15 than fresh measures to kick start the growth engine. He is also no expecting any big tax cuts in the Budget.

The market is currently moving higher on positive sentiment. Sriram is positive on the market in the long-term but expects to see short-term concerns. "We think metals could do well if there is domestic-led recovery," he says.

10:00am Equity benchmarks continued to see buying interest with the Sensex trading above 25500 level supported by metals, capital goods, banks and auto stocks.

The Sensex rose 100.70 points to 25514.48 and the Nifty advanced 25.10 points to 7636.45 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.6 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

About 1412 shares have advanced, 540 shares declined, and 81 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco Industries topped the buying list, rising 7 percent after CLSA upgraded the stock to buy from sell rating with a target price of Rs 215 and upgraded FY15-17 EBITDA by 6-9 percent. The brokerage is optimistic that the stock has potential to double in four years once Novelis' (Hindalco's subsidiary) new units, India smelters and Mahan coal mine are fully ramped-up.

Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, M&M, BHEL and Jindal Steel rallied 2-2.7 percent whereas TCS, HDFC, Gail, Wipro, Infosys and Asian Paints declined 0.3-1 percent.

10:00 am Petrol price: Petrol price was today hiked by a steep Rs 1.69 per litre and diesel by 50 paise a litre as the crisis in Iraq spooked international oil and currency markets. The hike, effective midnight tonight, excludes local sales tax or VAT and the actual increase will be higher, varying from city to city. Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 73.58 per litre, up Rs 2.02 from Rs 71.56 at present. Diesel rates will go up by 56 paise to Rs 57.84 per litre.

9:50 am AUto sales: June auto sales will be announced today. Consensus expects early signs of improvement in auto sales this month. The passenger vehicle segment is likely to see upto 2 percent volume growth led by a strong performance from Maruti, while the two-wheeler industry is expected to see 21 percent year-on-year volume growth, partly aided by low base effect.

9:40 am Budget estimates: The fiscal deficit in the first two months of 2013-14 was Rs 2.4 lakh crore or 45.6 percent of Budget Estimates for the whole financial year. The fiscal deficit- the gap between expenditure and revenue - for the whole fiscal has been pegged at Rs 5.28 lakh crore. The deficit during the same period last year was 33.3 percent of Budget Estimates. The fiscal deficit was Rs 5,08,149 crore or 4.5 percent of GDP in 2013-14, down from 4.9 percent in the previous year.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Hindalco hit three-year high at Rs 175.90 per share, up 7 percent intraday as CLSA upgraded  Hindalco to buy from sell rating with a target price of Rs 215 and upgraded FY15-17 EBITDA by 6-9 percent. The brokerage is optimistic that the stock has potential to double in four years once Novelis' (Hindalco's subsidiary) new units, India smelters and Mahan coal mine are fully ramped-up.

According to CLSA, Novelis will be a big beneficiary of the accelerating shift of global automakers from steel to aluminum given its strong franchise and upcoming capacities.

''Our analysis of the new India smelters suggests that their cost structure is not as bad as we  

The market maintains its uptrend as the Nifty eyes 7650. The Nifty is up 17.65 points at 7629.00. The Sensex is up 100.42 points at 25514.20. About 536 shares have advanced, 91 shares declined, and 21 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, ONGC, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and ITC are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, Hero and Bharti Airtel.

The Indian rupee opened higher by 7 paise at 60.10 per dollar on Tuesday as against previous day's closing value of 60.17 a dollar.

The dollar languishes at seven-week lows against a basket of major currencies, having extended a month-long decline after a recent batch of mixed data cast doubts on the strength of the US economic recovery.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The rupee has been trading in the 59.80-60.50/dollar range for many trading sessions now. The geo political tension in Iraq and suspected Central Bank intervention have prevented the currency from gaining beyond 60/dollar.The rupee may continue to trade in this range till the new government announces its first budget on July 10."

US markets were largely unchanged as the S&P 500 closed the quarter with a 4.7 percent gain, its sixth consecutive quarterly gain. Europe too remained range bound as inflation data met market expectations.

In Asia, Japanese shares soared despite the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed business sentiment dipped in the three months to June. China's PMI for June came in at a six-month high of 51, in line with Reuters' expectations. The figure is up from 50.8 in May.

In commodities, Brent crude prices trade sub USD 113 per barrel. However fierce battles in Iraq and the Ukraine have persuaded analysts to raise their oil price projections significantly in recent weeks.

From precious metals space, gold steadies near a two-month high, as the dollar remained under pressure ahead of a week packed with economic data. The metal looked set for a second straight quarterly gain after world political tensions bolstered demand for the metal.