The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes came off intraday highs in the afternoon trading as metal, media, pharma and state-run lenders came under selling pressure. However, gain in information technology shares helped in providing benchmarks hold gains. Earlier in the day, Sensex rose as much as 414 points and Nifty touched an intraday high of 11,437.25.
As of 2:01 pm, the Sensex was up 222 points or 0.58 per cent at 38,639 and Nifty 50 index rose 0.23 per cent or 26 points to 11,381.
Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Metal index's nearly 1 per cent fall. Media, PSU banking, auto, private banking and real estate shares were also witnessing a mild selling pressure.
On the other hand, information technology index - Nifty IT index - surged 2.3 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.4 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.2 per cent.
Bharat Petroleum was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.24 per cent to Rs 417. HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp also rose 0.7-3.3 per cent.
On the flipside, Bharti Infratel, Tata Motors, Grasim Industries, Tata Steel, Zee Entertainment, NTPC, ONGC, HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank were among the laggards.
The overall market breadth was marginally negative as 1,377 shares were declining while 1,180 were advancing on the BSE.
