IANS Synopsis In a week marked by market stagnation, Indian equity indices closed on an unremarkable note, affected by geopolitical uncertainties and elevated crude oil prices.

Experts forecast that without any significant triggers, the Nifty may continue its rangebound trajectory.

Crude oil prices consistently stayed above ninety dollars a barrel, with foreign portfolio investors offloading shares while local institutional buyers were active in the market.

Analysts said that the Nifty could continue to see rangebound moves and trade sideways unless fresh triggers emerge.ADVERTISEMENT NSE's Nifty rose 20.15 points or 0.1% to close at 24,252.

BSE's Sensex ended flat at 77,540.83 on Friday.

The indices declined 0.5% and 0.6% for the week, respectively, after ending marginally lower in the previous week as well."The US-Iran geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on markets this week, resulting in subdued trading and range-bound moves," said Sunny Agrawal, head of research at SBI Securities.

"If it starts to cool off, the Nifty may soon break past its near-term resistance of 24,500-24,600," he said.Nifty's Volatility Index rose 4.1% to 11.2 Friday, indicating some caution among market participants.

Of the total 4,564 stocks traded on Friday, 2,177 advanced and 2,152 declined at the close.

The midcap index remained flat for the week, while Smallcap 250 rose 0.7%.ADVERTISEMENT "We saw the Nifty recently correct from its recent highs, with the index failing to surpass the previous day's highs for 12 straight sessions," said Jain.

"However, mid-week, the index started rising again and has respected its 24,000 support.

In every correction since March, the Nifty has formed higher bottoms, which remains a positive sign," he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan fell 0.3%, China remained flat, while Hong Kong rose 1.2%, South Korea gained 0.9% and Taiwan rose 0.7%.

The pan-Europe index Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% at the time of going to print.

Foreign portfolio investors net sold shares worth ₹543 crore.

Domestic institutions were buyers to the tune of ₹2,124 crore.