The benchmark Nifty traded in range after sharp correction overnight to end marginally higher by 11.15 points at 7,614.35.
Opening positive, it traded range-bound amid extreme volatility as investors preferred to wait and watch after yesterday' correction following RBI slashing repo-rate by 25 basis points.
Bouts of value-buying on recent fall helped the index to trade higher, while profit-booking pulled down positive momentum throughout the session.
Shares of metal, auto, energy, pharma and infra sectors gained, supported by buying in midcap and smallcap companies.
Banking, IT and private banks witnessed profit-booking.
Meanwhile, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index showed that private sector activity in the country climbed to a 37-month high of 54.3 in March from 51.2 February, driven by marked increase in new business orders.
Elsewhere, Asian markets witnessed a mixed trend, while European shares traded higher after the outcome of a monthly survey showed improvement in China's service sector growth last month.
The NSE 50-share index resumed higher at 7,636.05 and moved between 7,638.65 and 7,591.75 before ending at 7,614.35, showing a gain of 11.15 points or 0.15 per cent.
Major gainers were Tata Steel (5.20 per cent), Hincalco (4.77 per cent), UltraTech Cement (2.84 per cent), ACC (2.66 per cent), Eicher (2.37 per cent), Tata Motors (1.67 per cent), Vedanta (1.98 per cent) and Sun Pharma (1.09 per cent).
The losers included Bosch (2.91 per cent), TechM (2.00 per cent), Axis Bank (1.84 per cent), Infosys (1.57 per cent) and ICICI Bank (1.35 per cent).
A total of 1,077 shares gained, while 472 declined and 63 ruled steady.
Turnover in cash segment dropped to Rs 14,644.16 crore from Rs 16,425.27 crore yesterday.
A total of 8,368.39 lakh shares changed hands in 66,58,729 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 92,23,370 crore.
