Sensex turns choppy after hitting all-time high in opening trade

The benchmark Sensex turned volatile after hitting a new high of 36,928.06 in early session as investors turned cautious ahead of July futures and options (F&O) expiry amid mixed quarterly earnings.

The 30-share index rose by 201.97 points, or 0.27 per cent, to hit a new high of 36,928.06, bettering its previous intra-day record of 36,902.06 hit yesterday.

However, the index soon turned choppy and was trading 16.05 points, or 0.04 per cent, higher at 36,841.15 at 0940 hrs.

The gauge had rallied 473.87 points in the previous three sessions.

The 50-share NSE Nifty too turned cautious and was trading 4.40 points, or 0.04 per cent, lower at 11,129.90.

Sentiment remained cautious ahead of July series F&O expiry scheduled tomorrow amid mixed quarterly earnings, brokers said.

Prominent gainers were Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, ONGC, Sn Pharma, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, HDFC, Wipro, L&T and PowerGrid, rising up to 1.92 per cent.

Top losers include Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, NTPC, Coal India, Maruti and TCS falling up to 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 104.34 crore, while domestic institutional investors made purchases worth Rs 513.78 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.09 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.85 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.54 per cent in early deals.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.79 per cent yesterday.