Stock markets close flat after volatile trading

Equity benchmark indices closed flat on Thursday after volatile trading as metal stocks wiped out gains by telecom and auto scrips.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed merely 22 points up at 38,607 while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 12 points at 11,597.

At the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty Metal Index closed 1.2 per cent lower with Vedanta slipping 3.8 per cent and Tata Steel by 1.2 per cent.

Among the gainers were Indiabulls Housing Finance, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserve, Bajaj Auto and Dr Reddy Labs.

However, Sun Pharma, Powergrid, Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank lost.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mostly in the red amid worries over the global economic outlook and trade protectionism.

The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth outlook to 3.3 per cent in 2019, the lowest since the financial crisis in 2008.

And US President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on goods from the European Union even as the US-China trade dispute remains unresolved.