Benchmark share indices ended flat on Friday amid positive European cues and a marginal appreciaiton in the rupee against the US dollar.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 8 points at 16,230 and the Nifty ended up 4 points at 4,926.
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(Updated at 14:40pm)
After a brief recovery the markets have turned flat in noon deals. The Sensex was down six points at 16,216 while the Nifty shed two points at 4,920.
Meanwhile, the broader markets leaped with the midcap and the smallcap indices adding 0.6% each as compared to the Sensex which gained 0.1%.
The rupee was at 55.41/42 per dollar, recovering sharply from the day's low of 56.09 as exporter dollar sales and a recovery in the euro towards session high hurts; pair had closed Thursday at 55.65/66.
Asian shares recovered from their fall to their lowest levels of the year as early bargain hunting gave way to worries about Europe's raging debt crisis and weak global growth. Jakarta Composite down 2% was the top loser along with Shanghai Composite and Taiwan Weighted down 0.7% each. Hang Seng and Nikkei gained 0.2%.
In the European markets, CAC, DAX and FTSE are up 0.5-1%.
Among the sectoral indices, Metal and Capital Goods indices added 1% each followed by PSU, Realty, Bankex and Power indices gained between 0.5-0.7%.
However, FMCG, Health Care and Consumer Durables were flat with a negative bias.
GAIL up 3% at Rs 336 was the top Sensex gainer after the company said that it has signed a natural gas sale and purchase agreement with TurkmenGaz for Turkmen gas shipped via the TAPI pipeline.
The other gainers included Tata Steel, Sterlite, SBI, Hindalco, DLF, L&T and Hero MotoCorp which added 1% each.
Among the losers were Maruti Suzuki, Jindal Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC down 1% each along with Reliance Industries which lost 0.6%
ITC which posted a 20% rise in net profit of Rs 1,614 crore slipped 0.5%
Among other stocks, Exide Industries surged 4% to Rs 124.65, extending its previous day’s around 3% gain on reports that the auto parts and equipment maker has raised automotive battery prices by 2.5%, with the hike effective June 1.
The market breadth remained positive owing to the strength in the broader markets. 1465 stocks advanced while 1112 stocks declined on the BSE.
