Mumbai, Jun 4 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended almost flat in a choppy trade on Thursday, as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines amid continuing uncertainty in West Asia and relentless foreign fund outflows.

Caution also prevailed in the market ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision on Friday, an expert said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex went up marginally by 13.84 points, or 0.02 per cent, to settle at 74,360.01. During the day, it hit a high of 74,544.24 and a low of 73,807.30, gyrating 736.94 points.

The 50-share NSE Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 10.95 points, or 0.05 per cent, to end at 23,416.55.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Titan, Eternal, ITC, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were among the major gainers.

Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech and Adani Ports were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,616.56 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"Indian equities delivered a decent recovery today, overcoming a weak start to finish largely unchanged. The market opened under pressure as weak global cues, elevated crude oil prices, and persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weighed on sentiment.

"However, the selling failed to sustain, with buyers stepping in near key support levels and helping benchmarks erase most of their intraday losses," Hariprasad K, Research Analyst and Founder, Livelong Wealth, said.

Despite the recovery, sentiment remained cautious ahead of tomorrow's RBI monetary policy committee decision, he added.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.68 per cent to USD 96.17 per barrel.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading mostly higher.

US markets ended lower on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Sensex dropped 303.67 points, or 0.41 per cent, to settle at 74,346.17. The Nifty declined 77.95 points, or 0.33 per cent, to end at 23,405.60. PTI SUM HVA

Monetary policy caution keeps equities flat amid West Asia tension, elevated crude and foreign fund outflows Indian equity benchmarks ended almost flat in choppy trade as investors stayed cautious amid West Asia uncertainty, weak global cues, elevated crude prices and persistent foreign fund outflows. Benchmarks recovered from an early decline after buying emerged near key support levels, but sentiment remained subdued ahead of the monetary policy decision, with foreign institutional investors continuing to sell equities.