Friday, February 18 2005 16:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: After an initial smart stocks rally, the market ended flat on sustained sell off by operators and retailers even as investors welcomed the appointment of IDBI chief M Damodaran as the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) Chairman.

Opening on a promising note at 6595.19, the BSE Benchmark 30-share Index later rallied smartly to the intra-day high of 6642.77 in response to Damodaran's appointment on SEBI.

It, however, fell back after midsession to end the day at 6584.32 against yesterday's close of 6589.29, a net fall of 4.97 points or 0.08 per cent.

Attributing initial optimism to Damodaran's successful role in turning around UTI AMC as well as restoring investor confidence in the country's largest mutual fund and ensuring orderly closure of the US-64 scheme, brokers said the market breadth remained negative due to operators' cautious approach.

Despite heavy FII inflows, operators seemed to be in no mood to carry forward their long outstanding positions amid lack of any clear indications on tax incentives in the budget.

Foreign Institutional Investors reported hefty net investments of Rs 1911.30 crore in the first three days of the week.

FIIs have stepped activity in the month and made heavy net investments of Rs 6870 crore till February 16 compared to Rs 1246 crore in January.

Key counters like Tata Motors, Satyam Computers, BHEL, Dr Reddy's, GACL, ITC, Maruti Udyog, Wipro, Ranbaxy and Cipla recorded marked losses.

However, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Hero Honda, HDFC and Bharti Tele-Venture closed with handsome gains.