Sensex's bull maintains pace at 51K, while Nifty witnesses fall of 10 point

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended flat after choppy trade on Friday, tracking weak cues from global markets.

Participants also remained on the sidelines ahead of key macroeconomic data releases amid lack of fresh buying triggers, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gyrated 543.96 points before closing 12.78 points or 0.02 per cent higher at its new closing record of 51,544.30.

The broader NSE Nifty, however, slipped 10 points or 0.07 per cent to 15,163.30.

During the week, the Sensex surged 812.67 points or 1.60 per cent, while the Nifty advanced 239.05 points or 1.60 per cent.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Friday, spurting 2.67 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Infosys, HDFC, SBI, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC Bank

On the other hand, ITC was the biggest laggard, tumbling 3.97 per cent, a day after the FMCG-to-tobacco major reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,587.20 crore for the December quarter, compared to Rs 4,047.87 crore in the year-ago period.

Other losers included Sun Pharma, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Titan and NTPC, shedding up to 2.53 per cent.

Sector-wise, BSE bankex, finance, IT, power and industrials rose up to 0.99 per cent, while telecom, metal, FMCG, consumer durables and oil and gas ended in the red.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled flat.

Elsewhere in Asia, most bourses remained closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.72 per cent lower at $60.70 per barrel.

The rupee gained 12 paise to settle at 72.75 against the US dollar amid unabated foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors purchased shares worth a net Rs 944.36 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.