The benchmark index seesawed on Thursday to end flat but for the truncated week it ended 2.5 per cent higher. Asian markets were mostly lower on Thursday while European shares edged up in early trade after the IMF raised its world growth forecasts.
The Sensex ended at 17,134, up 7 points, while Nifty ended at the same level as yesterday’s close, at 5,083.
Indian markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday.
Gaurang Shah, chief manager at Geojit Financial Services, said the rally seems to be losing steam and valuations also look stretched.
Investment advisor Rajesh Jain said that investors can use declines to buy equities with three-year horizon.
Bharti had surged over 11 per cent at its day's high before paring some gains to end 4 per cent higher. It was the biggest gainer among the Sensex stocks. On Wednesday, Bharti and MTN called off their merger talks. Citi said the event clears uncertainty and may trigger a relief rally in near term in the stock, adding that the disengagement with MTN would allow Bharti management to focus on strategic issues.
However, HSBC has downgraded Bharti to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and cut the target price by Rs 50 to Rs 488.5 per share.
It was a mixed picture among the sectors. Gains in the IT and banking stocks were offset by losses in oil & gas and healthcare counters. Among other IT stocks, TCS advanced over 2 per cent, while Wipro and Infosys gained close to 1 per cent. ICICI Bank added over 2 per cent and SBI 0.6 per cent.
On the losing side, Maruti, HDFC, Grasim and Hero Honda shed over 2 per cent each.
