Indian benchmarks little changed as gains in financials outweigh IT drag

** Indian benchmarks NSE Nifty 50 NIFTY and S&P Sensex SENSEX up 0.15% and 0.12%, respectively

** Nifty hit a record high for second straight session earlier in the day but pared gains as heavyweight information technology stocks CNXIT fell 0.24% on dampened hopes of early rate cuts in U.S.

** Nine out of 13 major sectors rise

** Heavyweight financial stocks CNXFINANCE up 0.54%, with HDFC Bank HDFCBANK up 1%

** Financials powered Indian benchmarks to record closing highs on Thursday as central bank's hefty dividend to government lifted sentiment

** Earlier in the day, Adani Enterprises ADANIENT recovered to pre-Hindenburg levels from January 2023; last up 1%

** Realty CNXREALTY and fast-moving consumer goods CNXFMCG stocks top sectoral losers

** Volatility index INDIAVIX resumes climb to remain around 19-month high levels amid uncertainty around outcome of general elections

** More domestically-focused small-caps CNXSMALLCAP and mid-caps CNXMIDCAP gain 0.6% and 0.4% each