Mkts close flat, Sensex gains 8 pts

New Delhi: After reaching near another crucial peak around 14,700 points level the markets ended the day on a flat note.

The benchmark Sensex plunged on profit selling and traded in the red for major part of the day.

The Sensex saw a fall of over 100 points during the day but ended over eight points higher on support from domestic funds.

Metal and auto stocks were the major losers in today's trading session.

The market initially remained in cheerful mood and touched the day's high of 14,697.69 and a low of 14,523.16 on emergence of profit booking and ended 8.96 points higher at 14,652.09.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index nifty moved between 4,245.30 and 4,188.45 points before closing a little lower by 1.20 points at 4,223.40.

Metal stock led the fall after reports of a plunge in metal prices in the overseas markets. Hindalco, Sterlite and Tata Steel were prominent losers.

A moderate gain in market heaviest shares of Infosys Technologies and Reliance Industries mainly avert any major fall in the markets.

About 987 shares have advanced, 1614 shares declined, and 60 shares are unchanged.

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 6,173.55 down 13.31 points or 0.22 per cent.

The BSE Small Cap Index closed at 7,651.07 down 0.6 per cent.

The BSE Bankex gained 0.9 per cent at 7,594.83. IOB, UTI Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Oriental Bank, SBI moved upwards.

The BSE Health Care Index flat at 3,900.88. Glenmark, Lupin, Biocon, Aventis Pharma, Pfizer closed lower.

The BSE Oil and Gas Index closed flat at 6,688. HPCL, IOC, ONGC, GAIL ended in green.

The BSE IT Index closed flat at 5,520.91. Moser Baer, Mphasis, HCL Tech, Satyam, Wipro declined.

The BSE Auto Index ended at 5,788.95 down 0.35 per cent. Bajaj Auto, Amtek Auto, Ashok Leyland, Tube Investment, Sundram, M&M ended hgher.

The BSE Metal Index was down 1.6 per cent to close at 9,275.10. Hindalco, Jindal Steel, Sterlite Ind, Welspun Guj, Maharashtra Seamless and JindalStainless ended in lower.

The BSE FMCG Index lost 0.2 per cent at 1,911.23. Dabur India, HLL, Tata Tea, Nestle, Shaw Wallace closed in red.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 0.2 per cent at 10,076.44.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 9,570.64 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 28,815.04 crore.

The BSE cash turnover was Rs 5,116.04 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 43,501.72 crore.