Equity benchmark Sensex opened over 200 points higher on Thursday, but soon pared its initial gains on profit-booking and was trading in the negative territory amid a mixed trend in global markets.

After opening at its lifetime peak of 54,576.64, the 30-share index turned flat, slipping 8.33 points or 0.02 per cent to 54,361.44.

In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty inched 8.95 points or 0.06 per cent lower to 16,249.85 in early trade.

IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Titan, Tata Steel, M&M, Bajaj Finance and SBI.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Kotak Bank were among the gainers.

“Domestic equities look to be flat as of now. Sharp rebound in market in last two trading days was not broad-based and sharp rebound in heavyweight financials contributed to rally,” said Binod Modi, Head of Strategy at Reliance Securities.

However, huge profit-booking in mid-cap and small-cap stocks was visible, he said, adding that going forward, given sharp improvement in key economic indicators like GST collection and auto sales volume, "We believe strong momentum of corporate earnings recovery may sustain in subsequent quarters."

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has declared that the number of active Covid-19 cases in country has increased to 4,11,076. A single day rise of 42,982 infections and 533 fatalities have pushed India's tally of cases to 3,18,12,114 and death toll to 4,26,290

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong and Seoul were in the red.

Equities on Wall Street largely ended on a negative note in overnight trade.