Sensex flat after crossing 22,000 mark in early trade

The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex breached the 22,000 level for the first time in early trade today on sustained buying mainly in capital goods, banking, oil & gas and power sectors.

The BSE-30 share barometer Sensex resumed lower at 21,819.19 and later bounced back to cross 22,000 mark to 22,005.54. At 1015 hours, it quoted at 21,930, showing a modest gain of 10.21 points or 0.05 per cent.

The NSE 50-share index Nifty also edged up 4.35 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 6,531.00 at 1015 hours.

Major gainers were - BHEL (2.75 pct), RIL (2.65 pct), Bharti Airtel 2.21 pct), L&T (2.09 pct), Axis Bank (1.53 pct), HDFC Bank (1.50 pct) and SBI (1.47 pct).
 

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 2,577.44 crore on last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian stocks edged lower in early trade as weaker-than-estimated Chinese trade and inflation data stoked concern over the outlook for the world's second-largest economy.

Key benchmark indices in South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan were down 0.37 to 1.68 per cent.