Mumbai, May 5 (Inditop.com) A benchmark index for Indian equities Wednesday closed flat after making up intra-day losses with gains in telecom and IT scrips.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,103.95 points, shut shop at 17,087.96 points, 49.18 points or 0.29 percent lower than its previous close at 17,137.14 points.
Investor concerns over sovereign debt in the Euro zone saw the Sensex tank over 278 points to 16,858.23 points during morning trade.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,124.9 points, a loss of 0.46 percent from its previous close at 5,148.5 points.
Broader market indices closed mixed with mid-caps seeing buying and small-caps selling.
The BSE midcap index was up 0.3 percent, while the BSE smallcap index closed 0.24 percent lower.
Metals, realty and capital goods witnessed selling, while telecom and IT scrips were up.
The market breadth was tilted towards the negative with as many as 1,144 scrips advancing compared to 1,717 stocks declining, while 83 remained unchanged.
Top gainers on the 30-scrip Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 2.66 percent at Rs.297.50; Wipro, up 1.7 percent at Rs.671.60; Maruti Suzuki, up 1.39 percent at Rs.1,280.75; and M&M, up 0.85 percent at Rs.521.30.
Major losers included Jaiprakash Associates, down 4.67 percent at Rs.133.60; Sterlite Industries, down 3.28 percent at Rs.749.65; Reliance Infra, down 2.59 percent at Rs.1,055.20; and Hero Honda, down 1.7 percent at Rs.1,888.90.
Fears of growing sovereign debt problems in some European countries led to a tumble in Asian markets earlier in the day.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 2.1 percent lower at 20,327.54 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index ended 0.77 percent up at 2,857.15 points.
The Japanese and South Korean markets were closed.
European stocks were in a slump too, though it started on a positive note.
The FTSE 100, the benchmark index of the London Stock Exchange, was at 5,391.62 points, down 0.36 percent, while its German peer, DAX, was trading 0.16 percent lower at 5,997.41 points.
The French CAC 40 index was trading 0.36 percent lower at 3,675.95 points.
