Sensex, Nifty pause after hitting record highs

By Darshana Sankararaman

REUTERS - Indian shares were little changed on Thursday after hitting record highs the previous day as investors took a breather and booked profits in recent outperformers such as ITC Ltd, while Axis Bank fell on a drop in quarterly profit.

Asian shares also eased as a long-awaited U.S. tax cut plan unveiled by Donald Trump on Wednesday failed to inspire investors.

Indian investors were also braced for volatility as monthly derivative contracts are due to expire at the end of the session.

Still, broader sentiment remained positive, given hopes for improving corporate profits and accelerating economic growth in India.

The broader Nifty hit an all-time high for the second straight session on Wednesday, when the benchmark Sensex too touched a record high, surpassing its previous record set in March 2015.

"After a big run-up in the market and after reaching record highs, there is always a tendency for some profit booking," said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief market strategist at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The Nifty was up 0.02 percent at 9,354.15 by 0606 GMT, having hit a record high of 9,367 in the previous session.

The Sensex was down 0.09 percent at 30,106.33, having gained 0.6 percent on Wednesday to hit an all-time high of 30,167.09.

Shares of ITC fell as much as 1.8 percent after a three-day winning streak and was among the biggest losers on the NSE index.

Financial stocks also fell, led by the country's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, Axis Bank Ltd.

Axis Bank fell as much as 2.7 percent after reporting a 43 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday.

(Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)