NSE Nifty holds on to 6,500-mark in volatile trade

The market ended almost flat in a volatile trade but the benchmark index Nifty managed to hold on to the key 6,500-mark as investors adopted a cautious stand ahead of latest industrial and inflation numbers amid stock- specific action at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.
Investors resorted to profit-booking in banking, auto, and energy shares ahead of industrial output (IIP) and consumer price inflation (CPI) data which were released after market hours. FIIs, however, remained active in trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,471.23 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Recently hammered drugmaker Sun Pharma rallied 4.14 per cent on value buying after its subsidiary Caraco received approval from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for risperidone oral tablets. Asian Paints rose 2.83 per cent, while diversified conglomerate gained 2.1 per cent.
However, power equipment maker BHEL dropped 2.85 per cent and Tata Motors slid 2.29 per cent.
The market opened lower amid weak Asian stocks and traded in the red amid choppiness. It recovered in mid-morning on bouts of buying, but caution prevailed as investors booked profit, resulting in the benchmark index losing momentum and ending barely unchanged.

The 50-share Nifty hovered between a high of 6,546.15 points and a low of 6,487.30 points before closing at 6,516.90 points, up 5 points, or 0.08 per cent, over its last close.

Other major gainers were HeroMoto, Coal India, NMDC, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Jindal Steel and Tata Power.
Hindalco, PNB, IDFC, SBIN, UltraTech, ONGC, Ambuja Cemement and Grasim were among the key losers.
Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 11,314.57 crore from Rs 15,314.57 crore yesterday. A total of 6,396.12 lakh shares changed hands in 59,20,864 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 69,45,724 crore.