Nifty crosses 10,000 briefly, closes with loss on profit booking

New Delhi: The NSE Nifty on Tuesday breached briefly the historical 10,000 level but pared gains to close with minor losses as investors booked profits in IT, pharma, auto and oil and gas stocks after a strong rally fuelled by rate cut hopes and better financial results.

The benchmark BSE Sensex that climbed to fresh life time high of 32,374.30 in early trade closed down by 17.60 points at 32,228.27.

The 50-share Nifty closed lower by 1.85 points at 9,964.55. In opening trade, the broader index had breached the historic 10,000 level by reaching all-time high of 10,011.30.

Reliance Industries, FMCG giant ITC, Tata Motors and pharma major Lupin fell up to 1.96 per cent, dragging the Sensex down from record levels.

Gains of up to 1.94 per cent in Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and TCS limited the loss.