Sensex, Nifty retreat from early highs to end flat

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty retreated from early highs to close on a flat note on Wednesday due to fag-end selling in banking and power shares amid mixed global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 0.02 per cent or 11.43 points higher at 65,087.25 points, marking its third straight day of gains.

Similar trends were witnessed on the NSE where the broader 50-share Nifty inched up 0.02 per cent or 4.80 points to settle at 19,347.45 points.

Most of the European stocks were trading in the negative territory while Asian shares ended the day on a mixed note.

"European stocks fell after the latest round of price data suggested inflation may not yet be fully on the retreat in the euro region. Asian markets too gave up some of their morning gains," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities said.

Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said positive sentiment initially propelled domestic equities, buoyed by softer US labour market data that caused a retreat in US bond yields, alleviating concerns about rate hikes.

"This positive outlook was reinforced by Chinese banks' move to reduce existing mortgage rates, favourably impacting Indian metal stocks.

However, gains were tempered as the day progressed, primarily due to weakness in global markets attributed to lacklustre economic data from Europe.

"Banking stocks bore the brunt of this downturn, while mid- and small-cap segments displayed resilience amid the market dynamics," he said.

In the Sensex pack, majority of the shares closed in the positive territory.

Among the main gainers were Jio Financial Services which jumped 4.99 per cent, Tata Steel (2.09 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.87 per cent), M&M (1.31 per cent) and Infosys (1.19 per cent).

Sensex had reached an intra-day low of 65,052.74 points.

During intra-day trade, Nifty had touched a high of 19,452.80 points and a low of 19,334.75 points.

Jio Financial Services (4.99 per cent), Tata Steel (2.09 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.75 per cent), Eicher Motors (1.24 per cent) and M&M (1.19 per cent) were among the gainers in the broader index.

“Markets traded volatile and ended almost unchanged amid mixed cues. After the gap-up start, the Nifty oscillated in a narrow band and selling pressure in the final hours trimmed all the gains,”  Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

A mixed trend continued on the sectoral front wherein metal and realty posted decent gains while energy and banking remained subdued.

In the broader market, BSE Midcap index rose by 0.55 per cent while the smallcap index spurted by 0.83 per cent.

In Asian markets, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 advanced 0.3 per cent, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled unchanged.

The Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1 per cent.

In Europe, France's CAC 40 fell 0.1 per cent  in early trading while Germany's DAX slipped nearly 0.3 per cent. Britain's FTSE 100 was up added 0.1 per cent.

Brent crude futures rose 0.55 per cent to $85.96 per barrel.

On Tuesday, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were the net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 61.51 crore, as per BSE data.