Nifty closes flat; ONGC, RIL, SBI dip, HDFC Bank, Wipro up

It was another quiet session for Indian equity benchmarks amid thin volume trade as traders' participation was low due to Christmas Holidays. The Nifty hovered around 6000 level throughout the day.

Nitin Raheja, CIO, Rada Advisors says, the Nifty will trade between 5,700 and 6,200 in January. ''Unless and until there is sheer liquidity, which surprises all of us, to drive markets in January, I think markets would typically yet trade in the range that they are at this point of time.''

Technology, HDFC group, select healthcare, metal, power and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies' shares along with ITC and BHEL supported the Sensex to stay above 20,000-mark.

However, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, SBI, ICICI Bank, ONGC, SAIL, HUL, L&T, Ambuja Cements, Dr Reddy's Labs and BPCL witnessed selling pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 20,025.42, down 3.51 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell just 2.10 points to settle at 5,996. Even broader indices were lacklustre in trade.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 0.7% each. India's largest lenders SBI and ICICI Bank slipped 0.8% & 1.2%, respectively. Among other financials, Axis Bank lost 2% while HDFC Bank gained 2%. HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and PNB went up 0.4-0.75%.