Sensex hits all-time high of 34,175.21

The BSE Sensex today soared to the life-time high of 34,175.21 and the NSE Nifty scaled the historic 10,562.80 mark in late morning trade as banking, metal and realty stocks advanced following continuous foreign fund inflows and increased buying by domestic institutional investors.

The 30-share Sensex spurted 205 points, or 0.60 per cent, to all-time high of 34,175.21 points, breaching its previous record high (intra-day) of 34,137.97 scaled on December 27.

The gauge had gained 176.26 points in the previous session. Sentiment got a lift following an improvement in liquidity in the market on sustained inflows by foreign funds amid the government moving forward on its bank recapitalisation programme, brokers said. The finance ministry yesterday sought Parliament's nod for extra expenditure of Rs 80,000 crore towards recapitalisation of bad loans-saddled public sector banks through bonds. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 212.05 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) made



purchases worth a Rs 325.24 crore yesterday, as per provisional exchange data.

Banking behemoth SBI rallied 0.83 per cent while Punjab National Bank gained 1.50 per cent. Bank of Baroda also gained 0.67 per cent. Private peers ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank too rose by up to 3.15 per cent.

All the sectoral indices led by metal, consumer durables and bank, trading in the positive zone with gains of up to 1.41 per cent.

The 50-share Nifty also hit a new high of 10,562.80 by soaring 58 points, or 0.54 per cent. It also cracked previous record (intra-day) of 10,552.40 points reached on December 27.

Globally, in the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.55 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang gained 0.18 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.23 per cent in their early deals. 

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average continued its record-setting run by ending 0.61 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.