Mumbai, July 15 India's key equity markets ended on a flat-to-positive note after a volatile session on Wednesday.
Both the indices were up over 1 per cent during the intra-day trade. However, they ceded most of the gains and closed flat with a slight positive bias.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P BSE, which had opened at 36, 314.76 points, ended flat and inched-up only 18.75 points or 0.05 per cent to close at 36,051.81 points. On Tuesday, the Sensex had closed at 36,033.06 points.
Similarly, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) surged 10.85 points or 0.10 per cent to end at 10,618.20 points.
The broader market indices like the BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices ended in the red, thereby underperforming the benchmark indices.
In terms of global markets, Asian indices closed on a mixed note, while European indices like the FTSE, DAX and CAC traded higher.
Sector-wise, IT, FMCG, Healthcare and Auto indices made gains, whereas Telecom, Oil and Gas and Realty indices declined.
The shares of Reliance Industries, which have been on a bull run of late, touched a fresh high of Rs 1,978.50 per share on the BSE ahead of the company's AGM.
However, RIL shares shed all the gains to close 3.71 per cent lower at Rs 1, 845.60 per share.
"Technically, with the Nifty selling off sharply from the highs of the day, the bears do seem to have an upper hand," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
"Further downsides are likely once the immediate support of 10,577 is broken. Any pullback rallies could find resistance at 10,712," he added.
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services: "The IT index outperformed due to a strong showing from IT bluechips, on the back of earnings results and commentary.
"Global cues were also positive, after results from experimental vaccine trials progressed as expected. This optimism offset growing concerns regarding increasing infections, especially in the US and India and also regarding the US-China tensions."
( With inputs from IANS )