The 50-share Nifty swung between a high of 5,702.70 and a low of 5,652.45 before settling at 5,673.90, a marginal gain of 4.30 points, or 0.08 per cent, over the last close.
The session started on a modest positive note, picked up strength and retraced the 5,700 mark led by strong buying in banking, infra and power-related counters. The overall sentiment was boosted by the overnight approval of debt restructuring package for state electricity boards (SEBs).
However, the market failed to maintain the momentum and slipped into the negative terrain on profit booking. It finally concluded the day with marginal gains helped by some low-level buying in beaten down FMCG and pharma counters.
On the global front, financial markets remained under pressure on concerns over eurozone sovereign debt problems amid gloomy German business data.
Besides second line power-related counters, a lot of action was seen in UB Group stocks on speculation about stake sale in Group companies to raise funds.
"It appears investors are a bit cautious at this juncture and not taking fresh positions as September derivatives' expiry date draws nearer," traders said.
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Kotak Bank, BHEL, HUL, Cipla, ITC, Ranbaxy, Grasim, HDFC, BPCL and IDFC were the top percentage-wise Nifty gainers. Losers included Jindal Steel, Cairn, JP Associates, Sterlite Industries, Axis Bank, Maruti, Sesa Goa, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors.
The turnover in cash segment jumped to Rs 19,884.64 crore from Rs 16,081.54 crore yesterday. Overall, 10,790.23 lakh shares changed hands in 65,31,652 trades. Total market capitalisation stood at Rs 63,72,193 crore.