BSE Sensex failed again to touch the 18,000 mark and ended with marginal gains to end the session with a positive note.

Trading remained lackluster and range bound on the last of the end of the July futures mark. Benchmark Sensex gained 35 points to end at 17,992 while NSE Nifty added 11 points to its tally. It however, managed to go past the psychological 5,400 mark to end at 5,408.

In the morning, the markets opened flat on the back of weak Asian trade and soon hit the low point of intraday trade.

When the reduced inflation figures came forward, it gained momentum and indices started to recover. After that the indices tracked the movement of the European markets and hit an intraday high during the end of the session.

Nifty touched intraday low of 5,381 and an intraday high of 5,415. BSE was at a highest of 18,013 but could not maintain the post-18,000 level.

It was the banking sector which proved to be the best performer. HDFC alone helped Sensex gain 29 points while the others also did well.