Sensex turns choppy after hitting record high

In volatile trade, the benchmark BSE Sensex hit a new life-time high of 38,989.65, extending its record-setting spree for a third session on buying by domestic investors amid short-covering ahead of August futures and options (F&O) expiry and mixed Asian cues.

The 30-share index rose by 93.02 points, or 0.23 per cent, to hit a new high of 38,989.65, bettering its previous intra-day record of 38,938.91 hit yesterday.

The index, however, turned choppy and was trading flat at 38,896.02 at 0945 hrs.

The gauge has rallied 644.83 points in the previous two sessions.

The 50-share NSE Nifty too turned cautious and was trading 14.70 points, or 0.12 per cent, higher at 11,753.20.

Sentiment turned cautious ahead of August series F&O expiry scheduled tomorrow amid mixed cues from other Asian bourses, traders said.

Prominent gainers were Vedanta, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, HDFC, SBI, ONGC, RIL, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC, rising up to 2.06 per cent.

Top losers include Coal India, Yes Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, HUL and ICICI Bank falling up to 1.97 per cent.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 161.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors offloaded shares to the tune of Rs 199.28 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.51 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.07 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.35 per cent in their early sessions.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.069 per cent higher yesterday.