Trading began on a weak note following lacklustre global cues and some profit-taking. The key-index mostly traded in a tight range in the absence of any significant follow-up buying.
FMCG, technology and some banking counters saw profit-taking while select buying was seen in auto, capital goods, oil&gas, financials and metal.
Incidentally, the year 2012 proved to be quite bullish with Nifty appreciating by 27.70 per cent despite macro-economic concerns including mounting fiscal deficit, plunging investments, and declining profitability. The Sensex clocked 25.69 per cent gains during the year.
Strong foreign fund inflows alongwith a series of reforms were the main driving forces behind the upsurge.
Foreign Institutional Investors pumped in Rs 1,27,455.30 crore (USD 24.20 bln) in the country's equity market in 2012 (till December 27). This was the second highest net inflow by FIIs in a single calendar year since their entry in Indian markets in 1992.
The 50-share Nifty moved in a narrow range of 5,919 and 5,897.15 today before settling at 5,905.10, a marginal fall of 3.25 points, or 0.06 per cent.
HCL-Tech, ITC, TCS, IDFC, LT, HDFC, Maruti, Axis Bank, Cairn and Bharti Airtel were the top losers from the Nifty bunch. Key gainers included PNB, DLF, ACC, GAIL, Tata Power, Power Grid, BPCL, Tata Motors, Grasim and Bank of Baroda.
Turnover in cash segment dropped to Rs 7,547.27 crore from Rs 9,706.43 crore last weekend. A total of 5,536.23 lakh shares changed hands in 36,98,244 trades. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 67,63,781 crore.
