Mumbai: The flagship Sensex today rallied to a fresh all-time high of 31,802 and the NSE Nifty hit off a new peak of 9,807 on uninterrupted foreign capital inflows coupled with earnings optimism among participants.
There are expectations that key macro data such as inflation and industrial production — lined up for tomorrow — will be encouraging.
Rising for the second straight day, the 30-share index rose by 86.39 points, or 0.27 per cent, to hit a new peak of 31,802.03.
The gauge had gained 355.01 points in the previous session to close at a record high at 31,715.64. It had also touched an intra-day lifetime high of 31,768.39.
Sectoral indices led by IT, technology, healthcare, auto, oil and gas were trading in the positive zone, with gains of up to 0.97 per cent.
The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 35.70 points, or 0.36 per cent, to trade at its lifetime high of 9,806.75.
Stocks of sugar companies were lapped up after the government yesterday raised import duty to 50 per cent, up from the 40 per cent, to restrict cheap inward shipments and support domestic prices.
Big gainers in the sugar space included Shree Renuka Sugars, Dhampur Sugar, Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini, rising by up to 3.38 per cent.
Traders said that apart from a fresh spell of buying by foreign funds, continuous buying by domestic institutional investors ramped up the momentum, lifting indices to new highs.
A firm trend at other Asian exchanges gave more lift.
Among the 30-share Sensex stocks, Infosys, Tata Motors, SBI, M&M, TCS, Hindustan Unilever were the top performers.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.08 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.27 per cent today.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.03 per cent lower yesterday.
PTI