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By Manvi Pant and Indranil Sarkar

BENGALURU, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended flat

on Tuesday, having swung between slight gains and losses through

the day, as the boost to metal stocks from China's new stimulus

measures was offset by profit-booking, especially in banking and

consumer stocks.

The Nifty 50 closed 0.01% higher at 25,940.4 points,

while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.02% at 84,914.04. They

hit record highs near the open before then struggling to hold a

firm direction.

Still, this was the fourth straight all-time high after the

Federal Reserve's outsized rate cut last Wednesday sparked hopes

of higher foreign inflows in Indian equities. However, the

magnitude of the increase has been easing in each session.

The bigger boost on the day came after China, the top

producer of several metals including steel and coal, unveiled a

slew of measures to try to spur its sluggish economy.

Metal stocks jumped 3%, the most among the 13

major sectors, to a near two-month high. Heavyweights Tata Steel

, Hindalco and JSW Steel rose

between 0.5% and 4%.

Analysts said that a growing domestic economy would likely

stop Chinese steelmakers from dumping low-priced steel in other

countries, including India, in search of profits.

"Besides, the recovery in China would strengthen export

demand for the metals as well," said Ajit Mishra, senior vice

president of research at Religare Broking.

Seven of the 13 major sectoral indexes showed gains.

The gains, however, were kept in check by a 0.8% drop in

consumer stocks, as investors booked profits after

a three-session rally in which they rose 2.6%.

Punjab National Bank fell 3.3% after selling

shares at a discount. It led the losses among state-owned banks

, which slipped 0.9%.

Paytm rose 4.5% after Emkay Global upgraded the

stock to "add", saying the fintech was on the path to

profitability.

($1 = 83.5300 Indian rupees)