Cautious stance adopted by participants, tracking mixed trend in regional markets ahead of the next week's US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meets too influenced trading sentiment.
"The investors have adopted a wait-and-watch approach to the global sentiment which is playing between cautious and optimism over the FOMC meet early next week. Currently, FII's are sellers in the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
The NSE Nifty ended 15.95 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 8,742.55 after moving in a range of 8,751.95 to 8,704.35.
Reliance Industries stayed in the lead from the Sensex pack and climbed 1.63 per cent to Rs 1,062.45, followed by Cipla (1.60 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.47 per cent), HDFC Ltd (1.33 per cent), ITC Ltd (1.23 per cent) and Adani Ports (1.15 per cent).
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Of the 30-share Sensex, 13 ended higher, while 17 led by Power Grid, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's, M&M, GAIL, Infosys and L&T finished lower, fell by up to 2.40 per cent.
Axis Bank fell 2.25 percent, SBI declined 0.70 per cent, while ICICI Bank lost 0.35 per cent.
Among the sectoral indices, FMCG rose by 0.66 per cent, healthcare 0.52 per cent, realty 0.14 per cent and teck 0.08 per cent, while consumer durables fell by 0.97 per cent and power by 0.94 per cent.
In the broader markets, small-cap index also rose by 0.27 pct while mid-cap shed 0.25 per cent.
European stocks were trading narrowly mixed ahead of
monetary policy decision from the Bank of England. Indices in Germany and the UK moved up 0.10 per cent to 0.21 per cent, while France CAC was quoted lower by 0.01 per cent.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,469 stocks ended in the green while 1,260 finished lower and 197 ruled steady.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3,801.03 crore, higher than turnover of Rs 3,616.03 crore registered during the previous trading session.