Firm buying in oil & gas, finance, pharma, auto, metal and infra counters spearheaded the late recovery, which led the 50-share index to gain over four points.
After a sluggish start, the key index mostly traded in a tight range amid choppiness in the absence of any buying support, but news-driven stock specific actions were seen.
However, bottom fishing in late afternoon trade, along with some short-covering, brought the market back into positive territory with the Nifty ending well above the key 5,900 support level. Intense profit-taking in FMCG and technology stocks capped gains.
The Nifty fluctuated widely between a high of 5,935.20 and a low of 5,883.70 before ending at 5,923.85, a marginal rise of 4.40 points, or 0.07 per cent, over its last close.
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Reliance Industries topped the Nifty gainer list ahead of the petrochemical giant's annual general meeting tomorrow. Other smart movers included DLF, ONGC, Hindalco, Sun Pharma, RInfra, Maruti, JP Associates, Ranbaxy and Jindal Steel.
Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 9,186.21 crore from Rs 9,469.36 crore yesterday. A total of 5,076.66 lakh shares changed hands in 48,08,873 trades. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 64,94,642 crore.