Sensex ends flat in insipid trade...Volume, breadth disappoint

The Indian stock market finished almost unchanged on Thursday at the end of another dull trading session. Cues from the international markets were not that encouraging to start with. The Asian markets closed mostly lower with the Chinese market among the worst hit. The European markets were subdued ahead of the policy decisions in the UK and eurozone.

As far as the domestic economy is concerned, the Government's weekly inflation numbers showed a spike in food inflation to 9% in the fourth week of May. But, the data didn't have much of a bearing on the mood. Investors will now closely study Friday's IIP report for the month of April.



The NSE Nifty struggled today and traded in a tight band of 40 points. It found support around 5500 and faced some selling pressure at 5540 levels. Trading and investment participation continued to be muted ahead of the IIP data and partly due to worries about the worsening global economic backdrop.

"There has been a lull in the market over the past few days, with the key indices hovering in a narrow trading band. Traded volumes have tapered off substantially, reflecting a general lack of interest among market players. This lackluster trend may persist for a while before there is any material improvement in the sentiment. Another area of concern is tepid FII inflows, which have eased off in the past few days. One must avoid taking large bets and market-wide call at this juncture and wait for the market to break out of the current range. Stick to a stock specific action but beware of companies with dodgy background," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research - IIFL (India Private Clients).

The BSE Sensex ended at 18,385 losing 9 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,449 and a day's low of 18,327. It opened at 18,394. The NSE Nifty closed at 5,521 losing 6 points.

The non-index counters witnessed some bit of action but things remained largely choppy as compared to the Large-Cap shares.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Consumer Durables, Capital Goods, Power and Realty indices rose. On the flip side, Auto, Pharma and IT stocks were under pressure.