Markets end flat after choppy trade; Sensex falls 8 pts, Nifty below 15,790

Mumbai: Benchmark indices ended on a flat note on Thursday as fag-end selling wiped out intra-day gains amid weak global trends.

The BSE Sensex slipped 8.03 points or 0.02 per cent to settle at 53,018.94. During the day, it had gained 350.57 points or 0.66 per cent to 53,377.54. NSE Nifty fell 18.85 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 15,780.25.

Tech Mahindra was the biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, dropping 2.09 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and M&M. In contrast, Axis Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries were among the prominent gainers, rising up to 1.74 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined by 0.74 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.54 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, metal fell by 2.18 per cent, followed by auto (1.25 per cent), basic materials (1.20 per cent), realty (1.17 per cent), consumer discretionary goods & services (0.90 per cent), IT (0.84 per cent), teck (0.64 per cent) and industrials

(0.48 per cent).