Sensex breaches 31,000-mark for the first time, Nifty crosses 9,600-level

New Delhi: The BSE benchmark Sensex crossed 31,000-mark for the first time while the NSE Nifty breached 9,600 level in closing hour of trade Friday on heavy buying.

The 50-issue Nifty gained 91.45 points, or 0.96 percent, to trade at 9,601.20, surpassing its previous intra-day high of 9,532.60 touched on May 17.

The Nifty has risen nearly 30.46 percent since the BJP- led NDA government came to power in May 2014.

The BSE Sensex quoted higher at 31,074.07 and 30,745.57. It jumped 260.09 or 0.85 percent in the closing hour of the trade.

All the sectoral indices, led by metal, capital goods, auto and power, were trading in positive zone with gains of up to 3.53 percent.

The major gainers were Tata Steel, Adani Ports, RIL, Asian Paint, Powergrid and Tata motors among others.

Reliance Industries Ltd gained as much as 3.23 percent, while Tata Steel Ltd gained as much as 5.6 percent to 514.35 rupees, its highest since September 2014.

Consumer firm ITC Ltd , which is slated to report March quarter results later in the day, gained as much as 0.70 percent.

Pharma company Cipla Ltd dropped to an eleven-month low of 3.13 percent after posting a quarterly loss against analysts` expectations.

The benchmark BSE Sensex too climbed 320.80 points, or 1.04 percent, to trade at new record high of 31,070.83. The gauge has risen nearly 26 percent since May 2014.

Marketmen said persistent inflow of foreign funds and sustained buying by retail investors, buoyed by a series of positive cues such as early onset of monsoon, upbeat quarterly earnings and finalisation of rates by the GST Council, fuelled the rally.