Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty started on a choppy note on Thursday amid a negative trend in Asian peers. The 30-share BSE index was trading 3.34 points or 0.01 per cent higher at 53,058.10 in initial deals, while the broader NSE Nifty inched 8.95 points or 0.06 per cent lower to 15,870.70. Bajaj Auto was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising nearly 2 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, M&M and HCL Tech.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, HUL, Sun Pharma and Nestle India were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex climbed 193.58 points or 0.37 per cent to close at its fresh lifetime high of 53,054.76, and Nifty rose 61.40 points or 0.39 per cent to its record 15,879.65. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 532.94 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.