Strong buying in Reliance Industries, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC spearheaded today's recovery.
After a sluggish start, the market picked up some momentum on the back of buying in select counters, particularly in retail stocks, ahead of discussion on FDI in retail which began in Lok Sabha late in the afternoon.
But bourses soon witnessed profit taking at higher levels leading the index to hit day's lowest point. However, the listless market regained strength in late afternoon due to firm buying in oil & gas, bank, pharma and infra scrips.
Retail investors were reluctant to chase shares at higher levels and remained cautious ahead of the debate on foreign investment in multi-brand retail, traders said.
Most Asian markets witnessed sell-off after a plunge in US manufacturing activity amid lack of progress on budget negotiations, dampening overall sentiment.
The 50-share Nifty fluctuated between a high of 5,894.95 and a low of 5,859 before finishing at 5,889.25, a gain of 18.30 points, or 0.31 per cent, over the last close.
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JP Associates, Tata Power, RIL, Ranbaxy, RInfra, Bank of Baroda, IDFC, Bajaj Auto, Lupin and ICICI Bank were the top Nifty gainers. Key losers included Wipro, M&M, Ambuja Cement, TCS, Grasim, UltraTech, NTPC, Sesa Goa, ACC and Hindalco.
The turnover in cash segment jumped to Rs 12,569.86 crore from Rs 12,010.06 crore yesterday. Overall, 8,503.19 lakh shares changed hands in 60,73,861 trades. Total market capitalisation stood at Rs 66,45,397 crore.