Nifty comes off record high; ITC top drag

By Jessica Kuruthukulangara

REUTERS - The Nifty hit a record high on Tuesday before erasing gains to trade slightly lower, dragged down by market heavyweights such as ITC Ltd.

Broader sentiment was also cautious with investors awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy statement this week for fresh hints on the possible pace and timing of further U.S. monetary tightening.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about 0.2 percent after swinging between positive and negative territory for much of the morning.

"People tend to be cautious around monetary policy meetings. There is a sense of cautious approach, especially for people investing in banks," said Sudhakar Pattabiraman, head of research operations at William O'Neil India.

"Since we had a very good day at the market yesterday, there is some element of profit-booking happening."

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.05 percent at 10,148.30 as of 0555 GMT after hitting an all-time high of 10,178.95 earlier in the day, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.01 percent lower at 32,420.77.

ITC shares fell 1 percent, making them the top drag on the NSE index, while Reliance Industries Ltd declined as much as 0.8 percent.

Allahabad Bank Ltd and Andhra Bank fell more than 1 percent each, and Oriental Bank of Commerce Ltd declined 2 percent as investors booked profit after six consecutive sessions of gains.

The Nifty PSU bank index slid as much as 1.1 percent.

Tata Motors Ltd jumped as much as 4.9 percent, making it the top gainer on the NSE index, after sources told Reuters that Tata Sons would buy $312 million stake in the company.

Biocon Ltd rose as much as 3.6 percent after the drugmaker said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration completed inspection of its facility in Vishakhapatnam without any observations.

GAIL (India) Ltd gained as much as 4.3 percent after Morgan Stanley raised its rating to "overweight". Petronet LNG Ltd climbed as much as 3.3 percent to a record high after Morgan Stanley raised its target price.

(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)