The Indian equity markets on Friday ceded most of their initial gains to close on a flat note -- marginally in the green -- as foreign fund outflows and broadly negative global indices subdued investors' sentiments.
The key domestic indices made initial gains due to short covering and bargain hunting after seven consecutive sessions of decline.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained only by 6.65 points or 0.08 per cent to 7,985.75 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 25,959.99 points, closed at 26,040.70 points -- up 61.10 points or 0.24 per cent from the previous close at 26,242.38 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 26,143.19 points and a low of 25,872.38 points during the intra-day trade.
In contrast, the BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bears -- with 1,328 declines and 1,282 advances.
On Thursday, both the Sensex and the Nifty had closed below their psychologically important marks of 26,000 points and 8,000 points, respectively.
The barometer index had closed lower by 65.60 points or 0.25 per cent to 25,979.60 points, while the NSE Nifty declined by 82.20 points or 1.02 per cent to 7,979.10 points.
"Markets ended marginally higher on Friday after a volatile session that saw the Nifty swinging between positive and negative territories. Today's gain came after seven sessions of losses," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC securities, told IANS.
Besides, an appreciation in the Indian rupee aided the equity markets upward movement.
The Indian rupee strengthened by 17 paise to 67.82 against a US dollar from its previous close of 67.99 to a greenback.
"Indian rupee strengthened against the greenback in today's trading session tracking gains in local equities along with selling of the US currency by exporters and banks," SMC Global Securities said in a commentary to IANS.
"Moreover, overnight weakness in US dollar against the basket of currencies also supported the bullish sentiment for rupee."
However, a massive outflow of foreign funds arrested the pace of equity markets' rise.
In terms of investments, provisional data with exchanges showed that the FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) sold stocks worth Rs 1,462.65 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased scrip worth Rs 1,614.94 crore.
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, steel and IT stocks continued to face selling pressure as global uncertainties kept pressure on these sectors.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE capital goods index surged by 116.50 points, followed by the consumer durables index, which gained 84.36 points, and the oil and gas index rose by 30.95 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE healthcare index receded by 96.91 points, the IT index fell by 45.46 points, and the FMCG index was down by 39.73 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Cipla, up 4.03 per cent at Rs 582.75; Sun Pharmaceuticals, up 2.40 per cent at Rs 623.80; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.14 per cent at Rs 5,193.25; Bajaj Auto, up 2.14 per cent at Rs 2,621.35; and Gail, up 1.58 per cent at Rs 431.60.
Major Sensex losers were: Axis Bank, down 2.23 per cent at Rs 438.45; ONGC, down 1.20 per cent at Rs 193; ITC, down 1.08 per cent at Rs 224.80; Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), down 0.96 per cent at Rs 1,171.75; and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 0.85 per cent at Rs 2,290.20.
--IANS
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