Sensex ends above 60,000 mark, Nifty tick higher to fresh records

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty inched marginally higher on Monday to end at fresh lifetime highs, led by gains in Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and Maruti amid a largely positive trend in global markets.

After touching its lifetime intra-day high of 60,412.32, the 30-share Sensex ended 29.41 points or 0.05 per cent higher at its all-time closing peak of 60,077.88.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty advanced 1.90 points or 0.01 per cent to record 17,855.10.

Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 6 per cent, followed by M&M, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Tch Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv and Infosys were among the laggards.

"Domestic equities traded range-bound amid positive cues from global equities. Heavy profit-booking in IT and pharma nullified the impact of sharp recovery in auto stocks," said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Further, financials and realty indices extended gains. Nifty IT fell over 2.5 per cent as investors preferred to book some amount of profit ahead of September quarter earnings.

Auto stocks witnessed strong rebound as continued underperformance for last couple of months, expectations of improvement in demand scenario from October and positive commentary from select companies about semiconductor issue made investors buy quality names in OEMs, he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Seoul ended with gains, while Shanghai and Tokyo were in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.32 per cent to $78.25 per barrel.