After rising over 130 points, the benchmark Sensex today surrendered most of its initial gains to end with a mere 14-point rise on selling in RIL and ONGC.
Rise in Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Wipro, TCS, ITC and Hindalco scrips helped the index end in the green.
Investors seemed to be cautious and preferred to book profits at higher levels ahead of the expiry of March contract on coming Thursday, said traders.
The BSE 30-share barometer resumed higher on the back of firm Asian trends and surged to 21,870.11 in view of positive closing on Wall Street yesterday on better economic data.
It, however, was trapped in a narrow range before closing at 21,753.75, a rise of 13.66 points or 0.06 per cent. Yesterday, it had dipped by 92.77 points or 0.42 per cent.
Reliance Industries dropped 2.20 per cent on reports of drop in production at its eastern offshore project. ONGC fell over 2.6 per cent.
Analysts said some bluechips like SBI saw activity on buzz that their weightage in FTSE indices would rise.
The NSE 50-issue CNX Nifty also ended with a marginal gain of 10.10 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 6,493.20.
"Market may witness volatility ahead of RBI monetary policy and upcoming Lok Sabha elections in April. Going ahead, global cues and Q4FY14 results will also impact market trend," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio.
Despite a small rise in the Sensex, most sectoral indices closed in the positive while only Oil&Gas and Healthcare indices finished in the red.
Second-line stocks attracted good buying support from retail investors as BSE-Smallcap and BSE-Midcap indices settled 0.87 per cent and 0.81 per cent higher respectively.
Some equity dealers said persistent capital inflows from foreign funds also aided. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,272.93 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will conduct a special live trading session tomorrow - March 22. Trading will take place from 1115 hrs to 1245 hrs.
