Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex ended little changed today as investors weighed outlook ahead of the start of earnings season, while for the week, equities plummeted by more than 2.30 percent due to profit-booking in winners from the last month's rally.
Broader markets, however, outperformed with mid-cap and small-cap ending higher by 0.64 percent and 0.63 percent, respectively.
In range-bound movements, Sensex fell by marginal 11.58 points, but the NSE Nifty managed to eke out a small gain.
On a weekly basis, both the indexes logged their second straight weekly fall. The BSE Sensex plunged 595.80 points or 2.35 percent and the NSE Nifty dropped 157.85 points or 2.04 percent.
Volume remained low as foreign funds and domestic players kept their commitments restricted on expectations of muted fourth quarter earnings.
In stock specific action, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki slipped 1.22 percent on Japanese Yen's strength against the greenback and vehicles sales falling 0.30 percent last month.
Shares of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) rose 1.26 percent as the company secured orders worth Rs 17,516 crore in 2015-16.
Sensex after moving between 24,736.03 and 24,608.51 ended lower by 11.58 points or 0.05 percent at 24,673.84. The gauge had lost 215.21 points yesterday amid mixed global cues.
Nifty 50-issue NSE, however, inched higher by 8.75 points or 0.12 percent to 7,555.20.
TCS took the biggest hit among Sensex stocks by falling 1.71 percent, followed by Hero MotoCorp at 1.62 percent.
The equities in March had capped their best show since January 2012 -- a surge of over 10 percent -- on a global rally, Indian government sticking to its fiscal consolidation path and hopes of a rate cut by Reserve Bank.
Overseas, most Asian equities ended at a three-week low with indices in South Korea, Singapore and China losing ground to settle lower between 0.09 percent and 0.78 percent while those in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan finishing higher by 0.46 percent to 0.60 percent, respectively.
Europe was higher with oil rising above USD 40 a barrel.
