Sensex reaches life-time high of 40,816, Nifty above 12,000

Despite weak global cues, the Sensex and the Nifty began the session on Wednesday (November 20) with a gap-up open on the back of domestic buying interest in the large cap stocks. The benchmark indices are currently trading near day's high in the afternoon trade with Nifty above 12,000 level.

The Sensex is up 318.52 points or 0.79% at 40788.22, and the Nifty up 94.90 points or 0.79% at 12035. About 1187 shares have advanced, 1054 shares declined, and 163 shares remain unchanged.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the highest contributor to Sensex gains is just short of reaching the market capitalisation of Rs 10 lakh crore. RIL will be the fist listed firm to reach the landmark size.

At 12.16 pm, the Sensex was up 319.43 points at 40,789.13 before hitting the intra-day high of 40,816.38. The broader Nifty surged to 12,024.40, gaining 84.30 points.

Strong buying was yet again seen in telecom companies after Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (VIL) decided to hike tariff as early as December 1.

Around 9.25 am, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up nearly 150 points at over 40,600-level as the markets opened. The NSE hit an intra-day high of 12,004 in the early morning trade, but retreated later to trade at 11,985 shortly after that.

Buying in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank had lifted the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex to over 40,600-level in the morning trade.