BENGALURU, June 14 (Reuters) - Indian shares held steady just below their all-time highs on Friday, weighed down by information technology stocks, while small- and mid-cap stocks hit record highs for the fourth session in a row as the post-election results rally continued.
The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.18% at 23,440.90, as of 10:39 a.m. IST, less than 50 points shy of its record high. The S&P BSE Sensex added 0.12% to 76,906.26, also near its record.
The IT sector dropped 0.7%, the most among the 13 major subindexes. They jumped 1% on Thursday on renewed expectations that U.S. interest rate cuts are imminent.
The Nifty 50 has gained about 0.6% so far this week, after surging 3.4% last week as the results of the national elections ensured political continuity.
But its trading range has narrowed sharply to 300 points this week from about 2,000 points last week.
There has been a lack of upside momentum for most of this week so far, said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
James, like other analysts, expects the benchmarks to trade near current levels for a few more sessions.
The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose about 0.6% each to all-time highs.
They have surged about 12% and 15%, respectively, since the election results early last week, roughly double the Nifty's 7% gain.
Among stocks, Ambuja Cements added 2.5% after acquiring smaller rival Penna Cement in a 104.22 billion rupees ($1.25 billion) deal to bolster its presence in south India.
The stock was the top gainer in the Nifty Next 50 index, which is up 0.5%.
Dixon Tech gained 4.6% and was among the top three mid-cap gainers after reports said the government planned to provide subsidies for electronics components manufacturers. ($1 = 83.5510 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sonia Cheema
Source: Reuters