The markets did not make any headway in this trading session. In what was almost a mirror image of the previous day's proceedings, the markets traded in a narrow range of about 100 points before ending with marginal losses.
The BSE benchmark ended at 18221, higher by 17 points and the Nifty crossed the psychological 5,500 mark to register an intra-day high of 5510 at the onset of the trading session before shutting shop at 5479, up six points.
And true to their recent out-performance, the midcap index ended at 7859, higher by 78 points and the smallcap index ended at 9912, up 92 points.
There were no triggers from the global front either. The Dow added 50 points to 10,320 and Nasdaq gained 23 points at 2,200 overnight as investors awaited the August US employment report for clues on the recovery outlook.
Asian markets had a decent day, adding anywhere between half and two percent at close as investors took heart from improving US housing and jobs data amid lingering worries over the pace of the global economic recovery.
And the European markets were cautiously optimistic ahead of the US data scheduled later in the day.
Meanwhile, the food and fuel inflation accelerated in the third week of August, maintaining pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to tighten monetary policy.
The food price index, which has a weightage of over 15% in the wholesale price index, rose by an annual 10.86% in the week to August 21, more than its 10.05% rise in the previous week.
The fuel price index rose from 12.57% to 12.71% and the primary articles index rose from 14.75% to 15.19% during the period.
