Sensex witnesses volatile trade, closes 14 points higher

The BSE Sensex inched up by 14 points on Friday to end at a nearly two-week high in a volatile session ahead of the September quarter earnings season.

The gauge had gained 522 points in the last two trading sessions.

After touching the day's high of 20,052, the Sensex fell to a low of 19,833.17 before ending moderately higher by 13.88 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 19,915.95.

For the entire week, the Sensex gained 188.68 points or 0.96 per cent.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also failed to hold initial gains and fell by 2.40 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 5,907.30.

Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, ended at 11,852.38, down 0.89 points or 0.01 per cent.

"Intra-day volatility was high as investors were seen cautious ahead of Q2 FY'14 results starting in coming week. Meanwhile the services PMI in September continued to be lower for third consecutive month, which also led to selling pressure on rallies. European markets were weak too," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

Stocks took support from a stronger rupee which was last trading at 61.45 levels versus the US dollar, compared to 61.73 on Thursday.

Brokers said while government's plan to inject funds in PSU banks to provide cheaper loans sparked off interest in interest-sensitive stocks but a mixed trend in global markets capped gains.

In 30-share Sensex, 15 stocks gained while other 15 ended with losses. Major gainers were Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors.

Sectorally, the BSE Realty index gained the most by rising 1.65 per cent, followed by BSE Auto index (0.94 per cent) and BSE Metal index (0.63 per cent).

With inputs from PTI