Nifty hits fresh high; Sensex slips from record

However, the BSE Sensex retreated from record levels as participants preferred to book profits.

Investors remained on the sidelines ahead of a long Diwali weekend amid anticipation of a correction in overbought counters, brokers said.

The 50-issue Nifty, after a shaky start at 10,227.65, rallied to a fresh high of 10,251.85, breaching its previous intra-day record of 10,242.95 hit yesterday.

But selling at higher levels dragged it to 10,212.60, before the index settled at a new peak of 10,234.45, up 3.60 points, or 0.04 per cent.

It broke its previous record close of 10,230.85 hit yesterday.

The BSE Sensex, after scaling a new intra-day high of 32,699.86 in early trade on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs), succumbed to profit booking and closed the day at 32,609.16, down 24.48 points or 0.08 per cent.

It breached its previous intra-day record of 32,687.32 points hit in yesterday's trade.

"Market was volatile in a narrow range after the positive start to the earnings season as investors were a bit conservative in the holiday-shortened week.

"The true picture of the Q2 results will start to reflect post the holiday and investors are turning optimistic towards Samvat'74 with an expectation of revival in earnings growth," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

DIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 272.69 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 29.92 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In the Sensex kitty, Cipla emerged as the top gainer by climbing 4.09 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel by 2.86 per cent.

Other gainers that supported the key indices were Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, HUL, TCS, L&T, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki, gaining by up to 2.06 per cent.

The BSE telecom index was the top sectoral gainer, rising 2.77 per cent, while realty rose 0.79 per cent, oil & gas 0.74 per cent, capital goods 0.43 per cent, PSU 0.41 per cent, healthcare 0.38 per cent, metal 0.25 per cent and power 0.17 per cent.

IT, bank and consumer durables indices ended in the red.

Broader markets were in better form with smallcap and midcap indices rising 0.53 per cent and 0.40 per cent, respectively.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei ended 0.38 per cent higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.02 per cent.

China's Shanghai Index fell 0.19 per cent.

European markets were trading mixed in their early deals.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 was up 0.02 per cent while Paris CAC 40 was down 0.05 per cent. London's FTSE edged higher 0.02 per cent.