A benchmark index of Indian equities markets ended Tuesday flat - with marginal gains of about 6 points or 0.02 percent - as major sectors like capital goods, oil and gas and bank stocks plunged.
Healthy buying was observed in healthcare, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer durables and information technology (IT) stocks.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,349.87 points, closed at 26,442.81 points, up 5.79 points or 0.02 percent from the previous day's close at 26,437.02 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 26,481.97 points and a low of 26,314.89 points in the intra-day trade.
The S&P BSE capital goods index was down 124.54 points, oil and gas index shed 77.69 points, bank index was lower by 42.62 points, power index declined by 27.47 points and realty index slipped by 0.82 points.
However, the BSE healthcare index gained 149.10 points, metal index closed higher by 92.42 points, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index moved up by 65.49 points, information technology (IT) index rose 23.72 points and automobile index gained by 4.69 points.
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The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed the day's trade flat. It closed trade 1.55 points or 0.02 percent down at 7,904.75 points.
The major Sensex gainers were: Hindalco, up 3.64 percent at Rs.170.65; Tata Steel, up 2.57 percent at Rs.525; Gail, up 1.49 percent at Rs.433.75; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.40 percent at Rs.727.15; and Sun Pharma, up 1.35 percent at Rs.864.85.
The losers were: Tata Power, down 2.77 percent at Rs.87.85; ONGC, down 2.48 percent at Rs.418.10; Larsen and Toubro (LT), down 1.33 percent at Rs.1,504; Maruti, down 0.96 percent at Rs.2,775.50; and Wipro, down 0.78 percent at Rs.551.10.
In Asian markets, Nikkei closed 0.59 percent down, but Hong Kong's Hang Sang closed 0.37 percent lower, while China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.99 percent.
In Europe, however, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.47 percent, Germany's DAX Index was 0.32 percent higher and France's CAC 40 was up by 0.72 percent.