Sensex ends on a flat note

The Sensex ended on a flat note with positive bias with gains led by auto, realty and healthcare stocks, while banking, PSU and FMCG stocks were under pressure. It opened with a loss of 61.06 points, at 16,650.05 on Friday tracking negative global cues. Later the index moved up into the positive terrain and again fell into the red. The benchmarks traded in a narrow range amid volatility the entire day and finally closed marginally higher, touching a high of 16,765.03 and low of 16,610.05.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 0.45% and 0.77% respectively.

On sectoral front, BSE Auto advanced 2.10%, Realty rose 1.29%, Healthcare up by 0.89%, while Bankex down 1.17%, PSU dipped 0.16%.

European stocks declined on speculation that a six-month rally in global equity markets has outpaced the prospects for earnings. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 rose 4.51 points, or 0.09%, to trade at 5,167.72. French benchmark index CAC 40 lost 2.67 points, or 0.07%, to trade at 3,837.39. Germany`s benchmark index DAX rose 2.27 points, or 0.04%, to trade at 5,732.31. (4.25 pm)

Asian stocks fell as Aiful Corp. sought to reschedule debt payments and Hong Kong`s central bank said competition on mortgages may hurt the city`s lenders. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei fell 73.26 points, or 0.70%, to end at 10,370.54. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index declined 145.06 points, or 0.67%, to close at 21,623.45. China`s Shanghai Composite decreased 97.59 points, or 3.19% to settle at 2,962.67.

The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 30.19 points, or 0.18% at 16,741.30 after touching a high of 16,765.03 and a low of 16,610.05. The broad-based NSE Nifty gained 10.50 points, or 0.21% at 4,976.05 after hitting a high of 4,980.85 and a low of 4,931.90.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Maruti Suzuki India (5.23%), Reliance Infrastructure (4.47%), Jaiprakash Associates (3.82%), Bharti Airtel (2.18%), Reliance Capital (2.10%), and ACC (2.04%).

On the other hand, ICICI Bank (3.35%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (1.61%), Reliance Communications (1.49%), Sterlite Industries (India) (1.29%), Tata Motors (1.19%), and Housing Development Finance Corporation (0.95%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was mixed. Out of the total 2,858 stocks traded at BSE, 1,443 advanced, 1,334 declined while 81 remained unchanged.

Bourses are shut on Monday on account of Ramzan Id.