Mumbai, Sept. 5 -- The frontline equity benchmarks ended almost unchanged on Friday as profit booking in FMCG and IT counters offset gains in auto stocks. The market, which opened higher on the back of positive global cues, struggled to hold on to early momentum despite the government's sweeping "GST 2.0" overhaul.

The Nifty 50 held the 24,700 mark. In early trade, the index surged to an intraday high of 24,832.35, but mid-session selling dragged it down to a low of 24,621.60. Last-hour buying helped the index recover partially, leaving it to close flat.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 7.25 points or 0.01% to 80,710.76. The Nifty 50 index rose 6.70 points or 0.03% to 24,741.

ITC (down 2.01%), TCS (down 1.53%) and Infosys (down 1.29%) were majo...