Markets end flat; metals, pharma up, cap goods dip

The benchmark indices closed on a flat note, after seeing extreme volatility throughout the session. It was a consolidation day for the markets, after a sharp fall on Monday and Wednesday. The Nifty gyrated in a range of 4050-4100 in the first half while it struggled at 4100 level in the second half of the trade.

Metal, telecom, pharma and select power stocks helped the markets while capital goods and select auto stocks put pressure. There was a mixed trend in banking, oil & gas, realty and technology stocks. The broader indices were also quiet in trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 13,757.46, down 11.69 points, after seeing a swing of 235.21 points between an intraday high of 13,879.18 and low of 13,643.97. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained just 2.05 points at 4080.95, after witnessing swing of 75 points between a day's high/low of 4114.90 and 4039.85.

Sanju Verma, CEO-Institutional Business, Proactive Universal Group said things would start looking up post September despite the budget being a missed opportunity. The market will see consolidation through July and August, she added. ''The Nifty at 4,600 is something that I am looking at over the next two-three months after a phase of consolidation and from there big bang announcements as and when they happen will ensure that we breach 4,600 on the upside.''

Kirby Daley of Newedge Group said, in an interview to CNBC-TV18, that correction in equities or commodities may not be linear and added that there would be a lot of volatility in the near-term. "We are going to see a lot of volatility and a lot of fighting on the way down, especially, during the earnings season here in the US and around the world for equities", he added.

In the technology space, Infosys Technologies was down 1.7% ahead of its Q1FY10 earnings on Friday. Wipro also fell 0.3%. However, TCS gained 2.25%. Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech went up 1.41% and 4.6%, respectively.