Sensex ends with a measly gain

The 50-share NSE Nifty, however, was little changed, ending 1.20 points down

North Korea's latest missile test that flew in the face of UN sanctions kept the market on its toes as the Sensex on Friday ended with a measly gain, helped by a flurry of late buying.

In effect, this brought up the seventh day of gains back to back for the BSE benchmark index.

The Korean peninsula took limelight after North Korea fired another missile over Japan that landed in the Pacific Ocean, further pushing up geo-political tensions.

The 30-share Sensex was in the red for much part of the session, but later turned positive to close up 30.68 points, or 0.10 per cent, at 32,272.61.

The gauge rallied 579.96 points in the previous six sessions, on the back of continuous capital inflows by domestic institutional investors (DIIs).

The 50-share NSE Nifty, however, was little changed, ending 1.20 points down -- or 0.01 per cent -- at 10,085.40 after hovering between 10,043.65 and 10,115.15.

On a weekly basis, both the Sensex and the Nifty recorded a significant rise of 585.09 points, or 1.84 per cent, and 150.60 points, or 1.51 per cent, respectively.

Most other Asian markets closed mixed. European shares moved lower in their early trade following an explosion on an underground train at a busy station in Southwest London today.

"The Nifty continued to face resistance above 10,100 level due to weak global cues and continued hostility in Asia... Continued FII selling and tightening monetary policies in the US will curtail easy liquidity, which is making investors cautious," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

In the Sensex box, ONGC came on top, jumping 4.71 per cent to Rs 166.90 on strong buying, followed by Bajaj Auto (3.19 per cent) at Rs 3,022.05.

Coal India, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Lupin and HDFC Bank all rose by up to 1.94 per cent.

However, Dr Reddy's, ITC Ltd, NTPC and SBI succumbed to profit-booking and ended lower by up to 1.77 per cent.

DIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 793.31 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold off equities worth a net Rs 1,334.23 crore on Thursday, showed provisional data.

In broader markets, the small-cap index rose 0.38 per cent, but mid-cap shed 0.28 per cent as investors took profit.

The BSE IT index jumped the most with a gain of 1.04 per cent.

Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters