Extending their record-setting spree for the third day, the BSE Sensex today closed above the 29,000-mark for the first time and the Nifty touched another peak of 8,774.15 with sustained buying by funds in healthcare, capital goods, metal and auto sector stocks.
Continuing its surge for the sixth day, the BSE Sensex crossed the landmark 29,000-level for the first time to hit a life-time high of 29,060.41.
After paring some gains, the 30-share index settled at an all-time closing peak of 29,006.02, up by 117.16 points, or 0.41%, over the previous close. It surpassed the earlier record closing of 28,888.86 hit yesterday.
The gauge has now gone up by 1,659.20 points in the six consecutive sessions.
It took 50 trading sessions from November 12 to January 22 to reach the historic 29,000-level from 28,000.
Also, the NSE Nifty continued its winning run and zoomed to hit a fresh record high of 8,774.15, breaking its earlier record of 8,741.85 (intra-day) reached yesterday.
However, profit-booking at record levels trimmed some gains but the Nifty ended at a new record high of 8,761.40, up 31.90 points, surpassing its previous closing peak of 8,729.50 in yesterday’s trade.
Improving macroeconomic data, surprise rate cut by the Apex bank last week and encouraging Q3 earnings by some bluechip companies and positive global cues buoyed the market and helped key indices to hit new highs, brokers said.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained the main driving force behind the ongoing bull-run. FPIs bought shares worth a net Rs 2,065.49 crore yesterday, according to provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Sensex components which supported the key indices to hit fresh highs were Sun Pharma (3.65%), Axis Bank (3.30%), Tata Motors (2.70%), ONGC (2.01%), Cipla (1.73%), Tata Steel (1.51%), Infosys (1.41%), Coal India (1.24%), Wipro (1.17%), Dr Reddy (1.01%), L&T (0.86%), Sesa Sterlite (0.83%), BHEL (0.67%), M&M (0.47%), HUL (0.40%), Hindalco (0.24%) and Bharti Airtel (0.24%).
Sectorwise, BSE Healthcare index gained the most by rising 1.69%, followed by Capital Goods index 1.12%, Auto index 0.72%, Metal index 0.67%, Realty index 0.54%, IT index 0.45%, Banking index 0.37%, Power index 0.22% and FMCG 0.20%.
Buying activity in small and midcap also gathered momentum, with the BSE midcap index rising by 0.07% and smallcap index by 0.23%.