In an another day of lacklustre trading, the 50-issue Nifty initially touched a high of 5,613.70, up by 42.30 points, but profit-booking by wary investors after mid-session pulled it down to settle at 5,571.55, showing a rise of 0.15 points.
Yesterday, it was down by 2.65 points or 0.05 pct. In last straight seven sessions, it had tumbled by 188.70 points or 3.28 pct.
Brokers said that wary investors are now waiting for the forthcoming Winter session of Parliament begins on November 22, where the government is going to take some bold steps to improve the economy.
On the global front, Asian markets unable to sustain early gains and ended narrowly mixed, as euro-zone problems grabbed investor attention after Moody's downgrade of France's AAA rating and before a decision on financial aid for Greece.
European stocks, too, were trading mixed in the afternoon deals after France lost its triple-A credit rating.
Top five gainers from the Nifty were M&M 3.27 pct, HDFC 2.25 pct, Power Grid 1.71 pct, IDFC 1.68 pct and Tata Power 1.65 pct, while five losers were Jaipra Asso 3.65 pct, DLF 2.37 pct, Rel Infra 1.93 pct, Ambuja Cement 1.83 and PNB 1.81 pct.
The turnover in cash segment rose to Rs 9,658.98 crore from Rs 9,052.72 crore yesterday. Overall, 6,455.20 lakh shares changed hands in 54,97,168 trades.