Mumbai, September 19 (IANS) Broadly negative global cues along with profit booking in metals, consumer durables and healthcare stocks and huge outflow of foreign funds led the key Indian equity indices to close on a flat-to-negative note on Tuesday. According to market observers, investors were cautious ahead of the two-day US Federal Reserve meeting slated for later in the evening (India time). The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) touched a fresh high of 10,178.95 points during intra-day trade, but failed to sustain that level and closed at 10,147.55 points -- marginally lower by 5.55 points or 0.05 per cent -- from its previous session's close. The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 32,402.37 points -- down 21.39 points, or 0.07 per cent, from its previous close, touching a high of 32,524.11 points and a low of 32,358.63 during intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,309 declines and 1,297 advances. In contrast, the broader market indices outperformed the Sensex, with the S&P BSE mid-cap index rising by 0.13 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.36 per cent. "Markets ended marginally lower on Tuesday after a range bound session. Today's losses came after the breakout seen yesterday indicating that the markets have taken a breather," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS. "Major Asian markets have ended on a mixed note. European indices like FTSE 100 and CAC 40 traded higher," he added. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: "Market traded on a flat note as investors are turning more cautious on account of Fed policy meeting. Also, the concern on valuation and lack of supportive cues to outpace the resistance influenced investors to book some profit." During the day, the Indian rupee weakened by 19-20 paise to 64.33 against the US dollar from its previous close at 64.13-14. In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrip worth Rs 1,719.62 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) divested stocks worth Rs 77.68 crore. According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, the Nifty hit a record high on Tuesday before erasing gains to trade slightly lower, dragged down by market heavyweights such as ITC. "Broader sentiment was also cautious with investors awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy statement this week for fresh hints on the possible pace and timing of further US monetary tightening," Desai told IANS. Sector-wise, the S&P BSE metals automobile index fell by 81.10 points, capital goods index by 71.14 points and consumer durables index by 58.81 points. On the other hand, the S&P BSE oil and gas index surged by 175.67 points, automobile index by 151.97 points and banking index was up 36.94 points. Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Tata Motors, up 4.58 per cent at Rs 423.90; Tata Motors (DVR), up 3.22 per cent at Rs 240.65; Kotak Bank, up 1.63 per cent at Rs 1,035.50; Cipla, up 0.61 per cent at Rs 573.50; and ICICI Bank, up 0.60 per cent at Rs 294.35. Major Sensex losers were: Coal India, down 2.49 per cent at Rs 258.20; HDFC, down 1.02 per cent at Rs 1,752.85; Larsen and Toubro, down 0.92 per cent at Rs 1,226.40; State Bank of India, down 0.87 per cent at Rs 267.80; and Sun Pharma, down 0.84 per cent at Rs 516.60.