NEW DELHI: Belligerent bulls riding on strong global cues pushed the S&P BSE Sensex index to a record high on Tuesday but profit booking ensued, leaving both benchmarks flat at the end of the day. Auto stocks were among the most favoured during the day while financials saw selling pressure.

The flip flop by Federal Reserve officials on when the happening of rates will start is keeping investors across the globe on their toes. Any sign of hawkishness provides ammunition to bears.

The 30-share pack Sensex rose 14.25 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 52,588.71. The index dropped 450 points from its day’s high. Its broader peer NSE Nifty50 gained 26.25 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 15,772.75.

Market at a glance:

• Sun Pharma ends in the red after company settles a patent litigation

• PSU banks continue rally; Indian Overseas Bank surges 5%

• GPT Infraprojects hits 20% upper circuit after robust Q4 numbers

• Fear gauge India VIX eases 2?spite wild moves

• Maruti Suzuki top Nifty gainer; Asian Paints top loser

“Volatility returned after main indices tested near all-time high levels, recurring weak closing of Asian and European markets and feeble futures. Falling Covid infections rate along with ramping up of vaccination in India added colours to the broad market in hopes of a faster economic recovery," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Among the blue-chip names, Maruti Suzuki was the top gainer, rising 5.18 per cent. UPL, Shree Cement, Wipro, SBI Life Insurance, L&T, Tata Consumer Products and Divi’s Labs were other gainers.

Asian Paints was the top loser in the Nifty50 pack, falling 1.75 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Nestle India, HUL, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra and Kotak Mahindra Bank were other stocks that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended higher, outperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap advanced 0.52 per cent and Nifty Midcap rose 0.10 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended up 0.26 per cent.

Adani Total Gas, Aditya Birla Fashion Retail, GMR Infra, Graphite India, HEG and Sterling Wilson Solar were top gainers from midcap and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 4-9 per cent.

Endurance Technologies, Oberoi Realty, AU Small Finance Bank, Avanti Feeds, Quess Corps and CDSL were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 2-4 per cent.

The sectoral matrix on NSE was mixed. Nifty Auto was the top gainer, rising 1.34 per cent, followed by Nifty IT and Nifty Metal. Nifty Realty was the top loser, down 0.68 per cent. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Banks were other major losers.

Market breadth was in favour of gainers as 2,026 stocks ended in the green while 1,212 counters settled with cuts. As many as 452 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 18 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 545 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 210 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading higher at the last count. London-based FTSE was up 0.39 per cent while Paris advanced 0.07 per cent, but Frankfurt declined 0.05 per cent. In Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand ended in the red while other markets registered gains.