Sensex, Nifty end at record closing highs as BJP bags Gujarat, Himachal

New Delhi: Buoyed by the BJP's electoral success in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the benchmark indices settled at record closing highs on Tuesday.

Firm global cues on bets that US tax reforms Bill will go through also supported the uptrend.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 235.06 points or 0.7 percent to 33,836.74, surpassing its previous closing high of 33,685.56 points recorded on November 3. The gauge had rallied 548.64 points in the previous three sessions. 

The Sensex touched a high of 33,862.07 and a low of 33,666.62 during the intra-day trade.

The 50-share NSE Nifty also went up 74.45 points or 0.72 percent to 10.463.20, crossing its previous closing high of 10,452.50 points scaled on November 3.

Analysts said buying picked up after assembly elections results showed that BJP will return to power for the sixth straight term in Gujarat and will topple the Congress to form government in Himachal Pradesh.

The rupee soaring to an over three-month high at 63.95 against the dollar during the day fuelled the upward trend.

The BSE market breadth was bullish -- 1,875 advances and 804 declines.

Major gainers were Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, M&M, NTPC, ICICI Bank and ONGC, rising up to 6 percent. In contrast, Wipro, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HDFC and Kotak Bank succumbed to rush for taking profit, which narrowed the gains.

Globally, Wall Street's latest climb overnight had been followed by most of Asia`s main bourse with the notable exception of its biggest - Japan's Nikkei - which was dragged back 0.15 percent by the force of a stronger yen. Australian shares added 0.55 percent, Hong Kong`s Hang Seng rose 0.8 percent and Shanghai lifted 0.6 percent.