Sensex hits record closing high of 54,555; Nifty ends above 16,250 

On Tuesday, Indian benchmark indexes rose for the second day in a row, led by IT and financial equities such as Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel.

The Sensex slumped 471 points from the fresh record high of 54,779.6, touched during intra-day trade, and hit a low of 54,308. The index, however, recovered swiftly to close at 54,555 levels, up 152 points or 0.28 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index shut shop at 16,280 levels, up 22 points or 0.13 per cent. Earlier today, it claimed a new lifetime high of 16,359.

During intraday trading, both indexes had climbed to new all-time highs.

Meanwhile, Indian rupee weakened to its lowest level in almost two weeks, in line with other Asian currencies, which fell tracking broad dollar strength amid concerns the US Federal Reserve will taper its stimulus sooner than expected.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 74.42/43 per dollar, compared with its close of 74.26 on Monday. The unit fell to a low of 74.4625 during the trade, its weakest since July 28.

(With inputs from agencies)