BSE Sensex and Nifty inched higher ahead of RBI policy review later in the day. The Nifty slipped after hitting its day's high of 7,714.45 in early trade.
The Reserve Bank of India is expected to keep interest rates steady while adopting tougher rhetoric on inflation at a policy review due to growing concerns that disappointing monsoon rains will lead to a surge in food prices.
Some weakness was seen in rate sensitive sectors with realty and banking sub-indices on the BSE in the red. Among the Nifty losers, HDFC, DLF and Kotak Mahindra Bank were down nearly 0.5 per cent.
ONGC was the biggest Nifty gainer, rising over 1.6 per cent.
Capping the gains, Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday after a survey showed China's services sector growth fell to a record low, pouring cold water on the positive market mood following upbeat US earnings and relief over Portugal's rescue of its largest bank.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent, turning negative after the China services purchasing managers' index(PMI) compiled by HSBC/Markit fell to 50.0 in July from a 15-month high of 53.1 in June.
At 10:40 a.m., the Sensex was down 19 points to 25,704.53 while Nifty was almost unchanged at 7,685. (With Agency Inputs)
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