Sensex surrenders early gain to close at 31,190.56

Mumbai: Nifty gave up its record 9,700-mark opening and the Sensex surrendered its life-time high to close at 31,190.56 as the markets grew cautious ahead of the RBI monetary policy meeting's outcome tomorrow.

The 30-share Sensex opened a shade higher and rose further to an all-time high of 31,430.32 before profit-booking kicked in, but closed at 31,190.56, down 118.93 points, or 0.38 per cent.

Over the past two sessions, the index had rallied 171.90 points.

The 50-share NSE Nifty, after breaching the 9,700 mark for the frist time at the outset, could not maintain the level and settled lower by 37.95 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 9,637.15.