The Nifty and the Sensex ended flat on Wednesday amid choppy trade.
The Nifty closed at 5,142, up 21 points (0.4 per cent) while the Sensex closed at 16,968, up 61 points (0.36 per cent).
Dealers said action would pick up on Thursday on F&O expiry.
“Overall, the market participants were cautious a day ahead of EU leaders summit to resolve the region’s debt crisis,” said Mr Milan Bavishi, Head- Research Inventure Growth and Securities.
“However, past observations suggest that whatever that has been done till now has not had the expected effect.”
Volatility was up 0.7 per cent and the India Vix closed at 20.37.
The top five gainers on the Nifty were Sesa Goa, IDFC, Tata Steel, Tata Power and HCL T while Tata Motors, Cairn, Kotak Bank, ACC and JP Associates were the top five losers.