Shares flat after Nifty hits record high; RBI decision awaited

Indian shares traded flat on Wednesday, paring gains after the NSE Nifty hit a record high at the open, as investors took a breather ahead of the central bank policy meet due this week.

The monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to leave the repo rate at 6.25 percent, where it has been since October, a Reuters poll found.

However, investors are expecting the RBI to announce measures to drain the 4 trillion rupees that has accumulated in the banking system in March, double as compared with January.

"The market is moving slightly ahead of time, so it is taking a small breather. One might see some profit-booking as well," said Deven Choksey, managing director, K R Choksey Investment Managers.

The broader Nifty was up 0.17 percent at 9,253.30, as of 0617 GMT, after earlier hitting an all-time high of 9,264.95.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.12 percent higher at 29,946.83. It went as high as 30,007.48, just 17.26 points shy of its record peak of 30,024.74 touched on March 4, 2015.

Housing Development Finance Corp dropped as much as 2.25 percent.

Among gainers, Shankara Building Products Ltd surged as much as 37 percent on its market debut, with its up to 3.45 billion rupees ($52.96 million) IPO oversubscribed more than 41 times.

Shares of Titan Company Ltd hit a record high after it said consumer sentiment has recovered in January-March quarter and sales were good for all divisions.

TVS Motor Company rose as much as 2.72 percent to a record high after posting a 10 percent increase in total vehicle sales for March 2017.

Indian stock, bonds and currency markets were closed on Tuesday for a market holiday.