Sensex closes flat; SBI, metals up, FMCG, ICICI Bk dip

The Sensex wiped out early gains in the last of hour trade and closed on a flat note for the second consecutive day, after a volatile trade. It shrugged off positive global cues. Traders looked cautious in trade today, after seeing sharp run-up in last few days.

The sell-off in heavyweights like ICICI Bank, HUL, Infosys, HDFC, ITC and DLF hammered the Nifty to close just near to previous day's closing value. However, buying interest remained in telecom, metal, cement, pharma, oil & gas and select technology stocks, which capped all the losses. Heavyweight Reliance Industries ended flat, after erasing early gains.

Global cues were positive today. European markets were trading 0.8-1% higher and US index futures gained 0.5% each, at the time of closing of Indian equities. Asian markets ended higher; Nikkei shot up 3.8%. Hang Seng, Jakarta and Kospi were up 1-1.5%. Shanghai, Straits Times and Taiwan were flat.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 17,185.68, up 15.77 points, after seeing day's range of 17,128.21-17,361.27. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 8.45 points at 5,131.70, after trading in a range of 5,106.60-5,181.

In the largecaps, Cipla, Ranbaxy Labs and Reliance Power gained 4.6-5.5% (its volumes surged over 400%). Siemens was up 3.8%. However, Tata Motors fell 3.5% and Suzlon was down 2.3%.

Bharati Shipyard and ABG Shipyard's open offer for Great Offshore opened today, which will end on December 22. ABG Ship exited the race for buying Great Off yesterday and sold entire stake of 8.27% at Rs 574.89/share. Edelweiss bought 20.7 lakh shares at Rs 577/share (5.5% equity), and Carmona Investments & Finance bought 2.5 lakh shares @ Rs 570/share.