Nifty touches intra-day high

The 30-share Sensex took a backseat on Thursday as the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange crossed 6,000 for the first time ever in early trade.

The Nifty touched an all-time high of 6,011.95, before profit booking brought it down 145 points to 5,866.45.

The Nifty, which has been playing second fiddle to the Sensex in the recent past, is more popular among derivative traders.

The average trading volume in Nifty futures is over Rs 20,000 crore. In comparison, futures trading in the Sensex is Rs 1,000-odd crore.

The Sensex also touched the day's high of 20,204 in early trade as investors bought shares in anticipation of more foreign inflows in Indian stock markets after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates 25 basis points yesterday.

But profit-booking pulled the index down 113.64 points, or 0.57 per cent, from Wednesday's closing. Most other Asian markets had risen after the Fed rate cut and signs of acceleration in the US economy.

Commenting on the see-saw movement in the Indian markets, an analyst with a US-based brokerage firm said there was profit-booking at higher levels on Thursday, which is a healthy sign.

"We see no trend reversal in the short term. The markets will see much higher levels, though the second-quarter earnings are not very spectacular," he said.