Mumbai, July 20 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities Tuesday slipped from its morning highs with the overall market turning sluggish in afternoon trade.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,918.43 points, was ruling at 17,968.69 points, 40.27 points or 0.22 percent up from its previous close at 17,928.42 points.
It had earlier breached the 18,000 mark, having gained 111.75 points to touch the intra-day high at 18,040.17 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was also flat at 5,395.8 points, up 0.17 percent from its previous close at 5,386.45 points.
Broader markets indices were quiet, with the BSE midcap index 0.27 percent up and the BSE smallcap index 0.43 percent higher.
Realty and metal stocks were doing well, while healthcare scrips saw some selling.
The market breadth was positive, with 1,595 scrips advancing, compared to 1,211 stocks declining, and 98 remaining unchanged.
Other major Asian markets were trading mixed.
The Japanese Nikkei closed 1.15 percent lower at 9,300.46 points as technology shares bore brunt of the selling.
The South Korean Kospi ended with modest gains of 0.28 percent at 1,736.7 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.99 percent at 20,289.01 points tracking late gains in US markets Monday.
The Chinese Shanghai Composite index was trading 2.15 percent higher at 2,528.73 points on reports that the government may allow qualified institutional investors a higher trading quota in stock-index futures.
