Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended almost flat in a highly volatile trade on Tuesday after the Sensex breached the 85,000 mark for the first time and the Nifty hit the 26,000 level in intra-day due to selling in Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank. Investors are struggling to find clear directions following a record rally, traders said.

In the morning trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex scaled the 85,000 level for the first time, while the NSE Nifty hit the historic 26,000 mark during the fag-end.

After oscillating between highs and lows, the 30-share BSE benchmark dipped 14.57 points or 0.02 per cent to settle at 84,914.04. During the day, it jumped 234.62 points or 0.27 per cent to scale a fresh all-time intra-day peak of 85,163.23.

The Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 1.35 points or 0.01 per cent to 25,940.40. During the day, it climbed 72.5 points or 0.27 per cent to hit a new record intra-day high of 26,011.55.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Nestle, Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints were among the biggest laggards.

Tata Steel, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Mahindra & Mahindra and JSW Steel were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory. Shanghai and Hong Kong markets ended significantly higher.

European markets were trading in the green. The US markets ended higher on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 404.42 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday retained India's growth forecast at 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal and said it expects the RBI to start cutting interest rates in its October monetary policy review. Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.35 per cent to USD 75.64 a barrel.

Rallying for the third day running on Monday, the BSE benchmark jumped 384.30 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at an all-time high of 84,928.61. The NSE Nifty climbed 148.10 points or 0.57 per cent to close at a record peak of 25,939.05. 

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