Sensex, Nifty close flat; SBI, L&T up, RIL, ITC decline

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed flat on Friday after a sharply rally the day before on hopes of diesel price hike. Recovery in rupee and strength in European markets helped markets recoup losses in second half of trade.

The BSE benchmark fell 4.48 points, to close at 16,217.82 after a swing of 155 points between intraday high and low. Shares of SBI, L&T, and metal stocks helped the market whereas the fall in ITC, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC weighed.

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The NSE benchmark touched an intraday low of 4,889.35, before managing to close above the 4,900 level. It fell 1 point to 4,920.40.

The May futures and options series will end next week. VK Sharma, head private broking & wealth management of HDFC Securities says, if the currency holds, the Nifty could close definitely above 4,850.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India spiked 1.7% while its rival HDFC Bank gained 0.26%. However, top private sector lender ICICI Bank went down 0.5%.

Engineering and construction major by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 1.5%. Realty major DLF went up nearly 2%.

Among metals and mining stocks, shares of Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Coal India moved up 1-2.5% whereas Jindal Steel tanked 2.6%.

Auto stocks were mixed - Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp climbed around 1% while M&M and Maruti Suzuki tumbled 2-2.5%.

State-owned gas transportation services provider GAIL topped the buying list, shooting up 3.4%.

However, cigarette-to-hotel major ITC declined 0.75% after fourth quarter numbers. FMCG company HUL too was down nearly 0.9%.

Reliance Industries, India's most valued stock lost 0.6% and mortgage lender HDFC fell 0.86% on profit booking.

For the week, the Nifty rose 0.5% and Sensex gained 0.3%.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, rising 0.5%. Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 1476 to 1248 on the BSE.

In the second line shares, Voltas gained 12% and Shree Ganesh Jewellery shot up 15% after good performance in fourth quarter numbers. However, Gujarat Fluorochemicals and Crompton Greaves declined over 2% amid heavy volumes, after disappointing numbers in January-March quarter.

On the global front, European markets were up 0.5% and even euro rose against the dollar due to better than expected German and French consumer confidence data, but eurozone concerns still persist.