Jittery markets end flat

Following Thursday's sharp spike coupled with strong cues from the overseas markets, the Sensex on Thursday jumped in early trades.

The index soon touched a high of 18,238 as better-than-expected earnings from Wipro also boosted the sentiment.

However, profit taking in realty and metal stocks saw the index pare gains and slip into red to a low of 18,094 - down 144 points from the day's high.

The Sensex, thereafter, exhibited volatility on bouts of buying and selling as traders awaited cues from the European markets.

After swinging in and out of the negative zone, the Sensex finally ended with a marginal gain of 18 points at 18,131. The NSE Nifty was up seven points at 5,449.

The European markets opened on a jittery note ahead of the 91 banks stress test later today. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3%, while the CAC 40 and DAX were up around 0.3% each.

On Thursday, the US markets ended on a firm note riding on strong corporate earnings. The Dow surged 2% (202 points), and the Nasdaq added 59 points to 2,246.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei rallied over 2% to 9,431. The Hang Seng gained 1% at 20,815. The Taiwan and Seoul Composite indexes were also up over 1% each.

The Shanghai ended marginally higher.