The benchmark Nifty ended almost flat, down marginally by 0.75 points amid bouts of selling in Energy, FMCG, Infra, Pharma and Realty counters.
Bulls and bears were evenly matched in today's tight- range trading momentum as volatility ruled roost after overnight sharp fall on continued geopolitical uncertainty looming large over the sentiment.
Despite, number of traders adopted sit on the fence attitude during the session, good buying in Banking, including PSU banks, Auto, IT and Metal counters helped the market to cushion the fall.
The broad-based 50-share Nifty opened modestly higher at 8,396.00 and traded between 8,413.20 and 8,269.15 before closing at 8,341.40, showing a marginal loss of 0.75 points, or 0.01 per cent.
Stockwise, Bharti Airtel fell by 5.79 per cent, Idea 4.57 per cent, Cairn 3.36 per cent, Wipro 3.13 per cent, HCL Tech 2.49 per cent, SunPharma 1.61 per cent, and ITC 1.52 per cent.
While notable gainers were IDFC 3.89 per cent, Hindalco 3.49 per cent, SBIN 2.71 per cent, L&T 2.65 per cent, Infy 2.60 per cent and Tata Motors 2.12 per cent.
Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 18,025.66 crore against Rs 23,723.88 crore yesterday. A total of 8,538.09 lakh shares changed hands in 76,72,027 trades. The market capitalisation at NSE stood at Rs 97,21,424 crore.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks ended mixed amid overnight weakness of US markets.
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 521.23 crore yesterday as per provisional data.
