A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Tuesday closed flat following heavy selling in metal, oil and gas, reality and capital goods stocks.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,422.69 points, closed at 18,329.32 points, down 9.68 points or 0.05 percent from its previous close at 18,339.00 points.
The benchmark index touched a high of 18,467.91 points and low of 18,255.69 points intra-day. The BSE midcap index was lower by 50.36 points and the smallcap index was down by 62.08 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also fell 0.15 points at 5,571.55 points.
There was heavy selling pressure in metal, oil and gas, reality and capital goods stocks.
The BSE metals index was down 71.69 points, while the oil and gas index was lower by 70.96 points, followed by reality index, down 57.07 points, and capital goods index, down 56.02 points.
However, the BSE auto index was up 66.96 points, followed by consumer durables, up 7.86 points, and health care index, up 6.71 points.
The major Sensex losers were Hindalco Inds, down 1.86 percent at Rs.105.80; Infosys, down 1.46 percent at Rs.2,325.40; State Bank of India (SBI), down 1.39 percent at Rs.2,065.90; Bajaj Auto, down 1.39 percent at Rs.1,828.40; and Reliance Industries (RIL), down 1.27 percent at Rs.764.45.
Only 13 of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the positive.
The major gainers were Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), up 3.25 percent at Rs.938.35; HDFC, up 2.02 percent at Rs.780.60; Tata Power, up 1.81 percent at Rs.98.40; Wipro, up 1.09 percent at Rs.361.85; and Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), up 0.98 percent at Rs.1,273.80.
Other Asian markets too ended in red. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.12 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 0.16 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.40 percent.
Among European markets, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 01.2 percent, while the German DAX was up 0.24 percent. The French CAC 40 index was trading lower by 0.22 percent.