The 50-share NSE Nifty ended at 9,143.80, up 43 points, or 0.47 per cent, after moving between 9,153.15 and 9,109.10.
The BSE Sensex jumped 70.42 points to end at 34,503.49, while the broader NSE Nifty finished at 10,651.20, up 19 points.
The restraint on part of investors was chiefly because of RBI's minutes of its December policy meeting, which showed that some members were concerned about rising oil prices, its inflationary impact and possibility of fiscal slippage.
It was an extremely volatile session, borne out by the Sensex swinging over 1,200 points through the day and the Nifty 369 points.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty in range-bound movements settled higher by 59.15 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 10,252.10.
The mid- and small-cap indices had a dream run between January 2017 and January 2018 - zooming 48 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively.
The wider Nifty hit a low of 10,033.35 before finishing at 10,044.10, down 74.15 points or 0.73 per cent.
The benchmark Sensex gained 4,642.84 points, or 16.%, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 1,572.85 points, or 18.20% during this period.
As if wanting to be an antidote to the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian stock market adorned carnival robes in 2021 with a tsunami of liquidity unleashed by global central banks coupled with supportive domestic policies and the world's largest vaccination drive sparking off a world-beating rally on Dalal Street, despite bouts of uneasiness over fizzy valuations. While the wider economy shuttled between recovery and relapse, dictated by multiple mutations of the virus, equity market benchmarks appeared headed in just one direction -- skywards. The dizzying upward journey has added a whopping Rs 72 lakh crore during 2021 to investors' wealth, measured as the cumulative value of all listed shares in the country, taking it to nearly Rs 260 lakh crore.
Investors booked profits in recent gainers
Top gainers include Yes Bank, HUL, Vedanta, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, PowerGrid and Tata Motors, rising up to 5 per cent.
The NSE Nifty also gained 53 points, or 0.49 per cent, to settle 10,855.15 after shuttling between 10,870.40 and 10,749.40.
On BSE, 1,469 shares fell and 1,200 shares rose. A total of 190 shares were unchanged.
Nifty PSU bank index dropped nearly 2%
Broader market outperformed the frontline indices with the Smallcap and Midcap gaining up to 1%
Broader gains were capped as investors awaited corporate results from major firms
In the Sensex pack, M&M was the biggest loser, tumbling by 6.66 per cent, followed by TCS dropping 4.14 per cent.
Strong gains in metal, energy, auto and power shares lifted the key indices to new highs.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 4.64 per cent, followed by Axis Bank at 3.86 per cent and SBI 2.53 per cent.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, sinking over 5 per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and NTPC. NSE Nifty tanked 371 points to 16,614.20.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
The sentiment got support from better-than-expected earning results by select companies and continuous buying by domestic financial institutions.
The 30-share Sensex, after opening on a strong footing, continued its upward march to hit an all-time high of 35,827.70. The NSE Nifty also hit a record intra-day high of 10,975.10, before finishing at 10,966.20, up 71.50 points.
'The news about the new virus strain in the UK provided them with an opportunity to take money off the table.'
The broader NSE Nifty scaled a high of 10,856.55 before closing up by 55.90 points, or 0.52 per cent
This is the highest closing for both the indices since May 15.
The wider NSE Nifty touched a low of 10,652.40 before finishing at 10,671.40, showing a loss of 97.75 points, or 0.91 per cent.
The Sensex and Nifty remained above their key levels of 36,000 and 10,900 throughout the session, indicating strong investor optimism after a prolonged spell of caution.
ITC, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Tata Steel were top gainers on BSE Sensex
The S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.4% and 1%, respectively
The broader NSE Nifty closed 1.25 points, or 0.01 per cent down at 10,564.05.
The broader NSE Nifty moved between 10,705 and 10,785.55, before ending 25.15 points, or 0.23 per cent down at 10,716.55.
In line with Sensex, the broader indices also saw hefty losses. Large cap index tumbled 0.79 per cent, midcap 0.87 per cent and smallcap 0.57 per cent.
The broader NSE Nifty dipped below the 10,200-mark to hit a low of 10,180.25 before ending at 10,195.15, down by 165 points, or 1.59 per cent.
The 50-share NSE Nifty too closed down 168.30 points, or 1.58 per cent, at 10,498.25 -- a level last seen on January 3 when it closed at 10,443.20.
This is its biggest single session fall since August 24, 2015, when it had lost 1,624.51 points.
The NSE Nifty settled the day 38.85 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 10,500.90 after shuttling between 10,590.55 and 10,456.65, intra-day.
The NSE Nifty too recovered over 100 points, or 0.96 per cent, to end at 10,576.85.
Top losers in the Sensex pack include Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Asian Paints, RIL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS, ONGC and M&M, falling up to 3.09 per cent.