Mumbai: The market recovered its early losses in the concluding thirty minutes and ended flat in an extremely low volume today (Aug 16, 2004) amid soaring crude oil prices and the prevailing high inflation numbers.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index which opened steady at 5105.26, later fluctuated erratically in range of 5114.79 and 5056.07 before ending the day at 5102.37 as against last Friday's close of 5102.92, a small variation of 0.55 point or 0.01 per cent.

Operators and retail investors, which remained extremely cautious in view of these negative factors that have cast a shadow over the market since last week, reportedly made heavy commitments in the steel major Tisco and a few other blue chip counters aiding the fag end recovery.

Crude oil for September delivery shot up by 32 cents to the new record at $ 46.90 a barrel in late trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Inflation also has climbed to 7.61 per cent for the week ended July 31, maintaining its rising trend after it touched a 40-month high of 7.51 per cent in the previous week.

Market players said Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which reported net sales during last week, were believed to have engaged in reshuffling of portfolios.

Tisco, Zee Telefilms, Wipro, RIL, ITC, Hindalco, Cipla and Bajaj Auto recorded smart gains.

However, other key counters like HLL, BHEL, Dr Reddy's, Grasim, HDFC, Hero Honda, HPCL, Tata Motors, SBI, Ranbaxy and HDFC Bank finished with marked falls.