Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher after range-bound trade

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Thursday led by gains in Bharti Airtel, Nestle India and TCS despite negative cues from global markets.

After trading in a range through the day, the 30-share Sensex ended 54.81 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 58,305.07 -- its all-time closing high.

The NSE Nifty rose 15.75 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 17,369.25.

Bharti Airtel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping around 3 per cent, followed by Nestle India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech and ITC.

On the other hand, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

"There is slight risk-off mode in global markets during the last few days and this has impacted the bullish sentiments in India too," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Many experts feel that there can be a correction in the large caps that have been leading the rally this year. So part of the fresh money is now moving into new areas like PSU banks. But this is likely to be a short-term trend, he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with losses, while Shanghai was positive.

Equities in Europe were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.29 per cent to USD 72.81 per barrel.

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