Equity indices close flat, metal and banking stocks witness profit booking

Equity benchmark indices closed flat after a volatile trading session on Friday due to weakness in Asian peers and selling pressure witnessed in metal and banking stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 12 points or 0.03 per cent at 38,129 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 21 points or 0.19 per cent at 11,194.

Except for Nifty IT which moved up by 1.5 per cent, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 2.1 per cent, PSU bank by 1.8 per cent, private bank by 1 per cent and auto by 1.1 per cent.

Among stocks, metal major Hindalco dipped by 3.5 per cent at Rs 156.25 per share while JSW Steel lost by 2.5 per cent.

Private lender Axis Bank tumbled by 3.2 per cent and ICICI Bank by 2.6 per cent while State Bank of India closed 3.1 per cent lower. The other prominent losers were GAIL, Grasim, Tata Motors and Bharti Infratel.

However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries advanced by 4.4 per cent to close the week at Rs 2,148.40 per share.

HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra gained by 4.7 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively while Sun Pharma was up by 2.1 per cent. IT majors Wipro and Infosys showed marginal gains.

Meanwhile, Asian shares slipped from six-month peaks as US-China tensions soured.

Tokyo was closed for a holiday but Nikkei futures traded 250 points below the cash close. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 2.21 per cent and South Korea's Kospi closed 0.71 per cent lower.

( With inputs from ANI )