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FII were net sellers in Indian equities in the four of the five previous five trading sessions.
At close, the Sensex was up seven points at 24,556 and the Nifty gained 11 points to end the session at 7,330.
Earlier in the day, the markets witnessed a positive opening on back of supportive Asian cues. However, profit taking played spoilsport and the benchmark indices plunged into the negative territory. From thereon, the markets remained choppy with the key indices alternating between positive and negative zone.
Meanwhile, the broader markets saw some significant buying. The small cap index gained 1.6% and the midcap index rose 0.4%, both outperforming the BSE benchmark index which was flat.
Sectors & Stocks
On the sectoral front, IT and Realty indices gained over a percent each and were the top movers in today's trade.
On the other hand, Metal, Consumer Durables and Auto down 0.7-1.6% were the only indices in red. FMCG index was flat with a negative bias.
Banking and Capital Goods indices added 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.
Tata Power, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp and Bharti Airtel up 2-4% were the top gainers among Sensex-30.
IT majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro edged higher by 1-1.5%.
Index heavyweight, Reliance Industries was almost unchanged.
Among the ones in red were Coal India, ONGC, M&M, Gail India, NTPC, Tata Motors down 1.7-3.3%.
Metal names like Tata Steel and Hindalco settled 1.7% lower.
The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,906 stocks advanced while 1052 stocks declined.
Smart Moves
Shipping Corporation zoomed up by 14% at Rs 63 after returning to profit in the fourth quarter ended March 2014 compared to a massive loss in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Hawkins Cookers surged nearly 19% to Rs 2,559 after net profit rose 12.42% to Rs 13.12 crore on 14.82% growth in total income from operations to Rs 141.86 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013.
ICRA, Indian credit ratings agency advanced 17% to Rs 2,352 after global rating agency Moody's raised its offer price to acquire additional stake in the company to Rs 2,400 from Rs 2,000.
Thermax slipped by nearly 2% at Rs 893 after the company reported nearly 9% decline in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.
Bombay Dyeing was up 5% after reporting robust Q4 numbers. The giant textile manufacturer reported 31.33% jump in net profit at Rs 207.25 crore for the fourth quarter dated March 31, 2014.
Jet Airways hit an air pocket and was down 8.5% to Rs 245 after the private airline major reported its highest ever consolidated loss of Rs 2,465 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013.
Global Markets
Strong economic data in the United States shored up Asian stocks to one-year highs on Wednesday; with another record close for the S&P 500 underpinning risk appetite and sending safe-haven gold to 3-1/2 month lows.
Riskier asset markets sped up overnight after the United States reported an unexpected rise in durable goods orders in April and higher home prices for March. Services industries, which dominate the economy, also grew at a rapid clip in May.
The sunny mood saw MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan scale a fresh one-year high, up 0.6%. Tokyo's Nikkei ticked up 0.4%, and South Korean shares rose 0.8%.
All the major European markets- CAC, DAX and FTSE- were flat with a positive bias.
