Sensex closes above 38,000 for first time, Nifty at 11,468

The fresh record high for the market comes on the back of domestic political development which renews confidence in the central government.

New Delhi: Markets touched record levels in closing trade on Thursday broadly on positive global cues, along with better-than-expected quarterly results.

The BSE Sensex surged 136.81 points to close above 38,000-mark for the first time. The NSE Nifty rose 20.70 points to hit record 11,470.70.

Major gainers included ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Vedanta, SBI, NTPC, Power Grid, Coal India, Tata Steel, Infosys, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, and M&M, rising by upto 4.64 percent.

Among sectoral indices, BSE realty rose 2.39 percent, metal 1.37 percent, bankex 1.32 percent, PSU 1.08 percent, power 1.02 percent, infrastructure 0.82 percent, finance 0.67 percent, FMCG 0.36 percent, IT 0.30 percent and teck 0.14 percent.

The index has taken 11 sessions to scale the 38,000 mark from 37,000 level reached on July 26.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 370.68 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 85.39 crore, provisional data showed.