Sensex ends marginally higher; Nifty hits record peak

Domestic equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Thursday, with the Nifty settling at a fresh record, amid mixed cues from global markets.

After scaling an all-time intra-day peak of 44,953.01, the 30-share BSE Sensex pared some gains to end 14.61 points or 0.03 per cent higher at 44,632.65.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty touched a fresh intra-day high of 13,216.60, before settling 20.15 points or 0.15 per cent up at 13,133.90 -- its lifetime closing high.

Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by ONGC, Asian Paints, NTPC, SBI, Bajaj Finserv and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, HDFC Bank, TCS, Bajaj Auto, Infosys and M&M were among the laggards.

"Indian market opened mixed following mixed global market cues in Asian markets. Trades in the global markets also remained lacklustre...," said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

During the afternoon session, markets briefly traded in the negative territory but later scaled back to trade in the positive zone.

On sectoral front, the gains were led by metals, financials and bank stocks while auto sector traded marginally negative.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with gains, while Shanghai was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a negative note in early deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.68 per cent to $ 47.92 per barrel.