Markets At Fresh Record High Levels In Early Trade; Sensex At 77,581

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty hit their new lifetime peaks in early trade on Wednesday amid a firm global market trends, buying in bank stocks and foreign fund inflows.

Rallying for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 280.32 points to hit its fresh lifetime peak of 77,581.46 during the early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 72.95 points to hit a new record high of 23,630.85.

Among the 30 Sensex companies, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers.

Titan, NTPC, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading higher while Shanghai quoted lower.

US markets ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,569.40 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.01 per cent to USD 85.34 a barrel.

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday raised India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent from 7 per cent projected in March, citing a recovery in consumer spending and increased investment.

The BSE benchmark climbed 308.37 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at a new closing peak of 77,301.14 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 92.30 points or 0.39 per cent to hit a record closing high of 23,557.90.