Mumbai, Aug 21 (IANS): A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed flat Thursday after volatile trading wiped out initial gains made during early hours of trade.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in metals, oil and gas and realty sectors. However, healthy buying spree was observed in consumer durables, bank and capital goods stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,322.66 points, closed at 26,360.11 points, up 45.82 points or 0.17 percent from the previous day's close at 26,314.29 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 26,464.80 points and a low of 26,262.52 points in the intra-day trade.

The S&P BSE consumer durables index gained by 333.41 points, bank index increased by 208.08 points, capital goods went up by 96.55 points, oil and gas index rose 56.71 and healthcare sector was up 33.78.

However, metal index was down 175.65 points, realty index was lower by 35.77 points and power index lost 21.23 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed flat. It was marginally up at 0.20 percent at 7,891.10 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Bajaj Auto, up 3.15 percent at Rs.2,267.30; State Bank of India, up 2.27 percent at Rs.2,467.80; HDFC Bank, up 1.35 percent at Rs.831.65; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 1.34 percent at Rs.1,376.15; and Sun Pharma, up 1.28 percent at Rs.857.95.

The losers were: NTPC, down 1.86 percent at Rs.142.65; Seas Sterlite, down 1.73 percent at Rs.289.65; DrReddy, down 1.71 percent at Rs.2,838.50; Tata Steel, down 1.62 percent at Rs.536.60; and Hindalco, down 1.36 percent at Rs.177.85.

In Asian markets, Nikkei closed 0.85 percent up, while Hong Kong's Hang Sang closed 0.66 percent down. China's Shanghai Composite index, too, declined by 0.44 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was up by 0.22 percent, Germany's DAX Index was 0.46 percent higher and France's CAC 40 gained by 0.81 percent.

Watch Video