Sensex ends flat; ICICI Bk, Bharti, Infy aid, RIL, HDFC dip

The Sensex ended the session flat but remained on the positive side for the fifth consecutive day. The Nifty also closed above the 4800 mark for third day in a row. Heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, Infosys, ICICI Bank, BHEL and ITC supported the markets while selling in Reliance Industries, DLF, HDFC, SBI, HUL and Hero Honda capped the gains.

Equity benchmarks started the day on a strong note following positive Asian cues and remained bullish in the first half of trade. In Asia, Hang Seng, Jakarta, Nikkei, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted gained 1-2% while Shanghai lost 0.73%. As the day proceeded, especially in the second half of trade, both indices wiped out some of their gains. Even European cues were not that supportive. In the half an hour of trade, indices erased their gains and turned choppy. European markets were marginally in the red, at the time of closing of Indian equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex shed 218 points from an intraday high of 16,434.77 and closed 33.31 points higher at 16,216.86. The Nifty ended with just 5.15 points gain at 4,819.40, after shedding 69.65 points from day's high of 4889.05, which was its 52-week high as well as new 2009 high.

Volumes were very high, more than Rs 1 lakh crore. Total traded turnover was at Rs 1,01,849.49 crore as against Rs 78,551.9 crore on Wednesday. This included Rs 19,576.24 crore from the NSE cash segment, Rs 75,583.39 crore from the NSE F&O and the balance Rs 6,689.86 crore from the BSE cash segment.

The market breadth was negative; about 1,144 shares advanced while 1,760 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 293 shares remained unchanged.

Global Cues:
Asian markets were trading higher barring Shanghai. Nikkei, Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted were up 1.3-1.6%. Jakarta rose 1% while Shanghai fell 1%. SGX Nifty was up 1%.