Keeping its head above water, the benchmark BSE Sensex today nudged up over 40 points to close at 25,863.50 on value-buying coupled with short-covering by participants amid expiry of September derivatives contracts and mixed global cues.
Sentiment improved following a mild uptick in rollover of futures and options contracts to October.
Value-buying in consumer durables, technology, FMCG, healthcare, realty and auto kept sentiment positive.
However, an upcoming long weekend and RBI's policy review on September 29 made investors cautious, who stayed away from creating large bets.
After a dismal start, the BSE Sensex continued to lose ground in line with a sluggish global trend as weak Chinese and US factory data added to lingering growth worries, but then ensured there was no further damage as it closed the day at 25,863.50, up 40.51 points, or 0.16 per cent.
The gauge had gained 171.15 points in the previous volatile session on a firming trend in Europe.
On a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex dropped 355.41 points, or 1.35 per cent, while the Nifty fell 113.40 points, or 1.42 per cent, breaking two straight weeks of gains.
Brokers said short-covering by participants on the last trading session of September derivatives series helped.
The broader Nifty ended up by 22.55 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 7,868.50 after trading between 7,804.10 and 7,894.50 intra-day.
The market will be closed tomorrow on account of Id-ul-Juha.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,330.12 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from stock exchanges.
Out of the 30-share Sensex, 16 closed with gains.
Those who gained included Lupin, GAIL, ITC, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki.
IT stocks such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro were in demand as the rupee weakened against the dollar.
Sectrowise, the BSE IT gained the most by rising 2.02 per cent, followed by consumer durables, technology, FMCG and healthcare.
Broader markets were also in a better shape as investors accelerated their buying activity, lifting the small-cap index by 0.58 per cent and midcap by 0.22 per cent.
Globally, among other Asian markets, Shanghai Composite ended 0.86 per cent higher while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.97 per cent and Japan's Nikkei turned lower by 2.76 per cent.
Trend in European markets was mixed in early trade.
