Key indices end flat in volatile session

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks eked out marginal gains to settle in the positive zone after swinging between gains and losses during the session on Wednesday amid weakness in global bourses. In a trade marked with highs and lows, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 54.13 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 59,085.43. During the day, it hit a high of 59,170.87 and a low of 58,760.09. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty went up by 27.45 points or 0.16 per cent to 17,604.95.

"Caution prevailed in the market ahead of monthly expiry on Thursday, while key benchmark indices eked out modest gains and shrugged off weak sentiment across most Asian and European markets. Gains were muted as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium this Friday," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

"Bulls and bears continued to battle it out in the domestic market as weak global cues persisted, keeping the market under pressure. The US economy contracted amid muted demand conditions with the service sector witnessing a sharp decline. Markets in Europe experienced a protracted sell-off as a result of investor's concern over the oil crisis and the uncertain growth outlook," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.80 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.73 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty climbed 1.74 per cent, followed by industrials (0.92 per cent), telecom (0.91 per cent), capital goods (0.80 per cent) and finance (0.64 per cent).