Sensex zooms 447 points to breach 45,000-mark for 1st time; Nifty tops 13,250

New Delhi: Markets ended in the green on Friday tracking strong buying sentiment in financial stocks after RBI's Monetary policy announcement with the Sensex breaching the 45,000-level for the first time.

The BSE Sensex rallied 446.90 points or 1 percent higher at 45,079.55. Similarly, the NSE Nifty touched a new high of 13,280.05 during the session, before finishing 124.65 points or 0.95 percent higher at 13,258.55 -- its record closing high.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left interest rates unchanged at 4 percent for the third straight time amid persistently high inflation, maintaining an accomodating stance.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, HUL, SBI, L&T, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Titan and Kotak Bank, rising upto 4.20 percent.

On the other hand, RIL, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech and HDFC were among the laggards, falling upto 0.86 percent.

The rupee snapped its two-day losing streak to close 13 paise higher at 73.80 (provisional) against the US dollar

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended on a positive note, while Tokyo was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in early deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 1.81 per cent to USD 49.59 per barrel.