Market at fresh record highs; Sensex zooms past 45,880, Nifty at 13,471

New Delhi: Markets opened at fresh record highs on Wednesday led by rally in IT, banking and financial stocks amidst positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex soared 273.22 points or 0.60 percent to 45,881.73 in early trade while the NSE Nifty jumped 78.25 points or 0.58 percent to 13,471.20.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were ITC, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, HDFC, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserve, Asian Paint, ICICI Bank, RIL, Bajaj Auto, NTPC and TCS, rising upto 1.70 percent. On the other hand major losers were Ultrachem and Maruti, falling upto 0.87 percent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, markets ended at its fresh lifetime peak on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors amid persistent foreign fund inflows. Rising for the fourth straight session, the BSE Sensex zoomed 181.54 points or 0.40 per cent to finish at 45,608.51. Intra-day, Sensex had touched a record high of 45,742.23.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose for the sixth consecutive day, to end at new lifetime closing high of 13,392.95, up 37.20 points or 0.28 percent. It touched its intra-day record of 13,435.45 in early trade.

Asian shares rose to a record high led by positive news on COVID-19 vaccines. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.51%. At one point the index reached 646.10, an all-time peak. MSCI`s gauge of stocks across the globe also hit a record high. Australian shares gained 0.69%. Japan`s Nikkei rose 1.01% to approach a 29 1/2-year high. Shares in China rose 0.15%. South Korean stocks also jumped by 1.26% to trade near a record high. U.S. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures rose 0.11%, a Reuters report said.