Nifty ends volatile session on flat note

Indian equity benchmarks saw consolidation for another day on Friday, especially after the budget rally. The Nifty touched the 5600 mark in early trade today for the first time since January 28 on strong global cues but as the day was progressed those gains completely wiped out on the rising concerns in Libya region and the index ended on a quiet note.

The worries due to Middle East and North African political turmoil do not seem to be over yet though the London brent crude stabilised around USD 115-116 a barrel and the crude oil around USD 102-103 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Amrita Sen, Assistant Vice President, Commodities Research at Barclays Capital sees extremely high volatility and choppy trade in crude. She says, "Oil infrastructure is not at risk and Bahrain is extremely important to watch out for."

Praveen Kumar, head-south Asia (Oil and Gas Team), FACTS Global Energy expects crude to trade around USD 105 a barrel in 2011.

The United Kingdom has frozen nearly USD 3.2 billion Libyan wealth fund assets, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting agencies. There were also some reports that rebels in North Yemen threw bombs and stage anti-government protests resulting in dead and wounded were reported. The army used rockets on protesters, agencies reported.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell just 3.31 points, to close at 18,486.45 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 2.55 points, to settle at 5,538.75.