Sensex scales 72,000 peak for first time; Nifty hits all-time high

Mumbai: Sensex and Nifty soared to fresh closing record highs on Wednesday, with the 30-share benchmark index crossing the historic 72,000 mark, boosted by optimism over the country's macroeconomic fundamentals and firm global market trends.

Reflecting broader investor bullishness, the 50-share index surged to a record high of 21,654.75 on intense buying in metal, commodity, auto and banking sectors.

Rising for the fourth straight session, the BSE gauge jumped 701.63 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at its all-time closing high of 72,038.43. During the day, it zoomed 783.05 points or 1.09 per cent to reach its intra-day lifetime high of 72,119.85.

The Nifty climbed 213.40 points or 1 per cent to settle at a record high of 21,654.75. During the day, it rallied 234.4 points or 1.09 per cent to reach its all-time intra-day peak of 21,675.75.

Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv were the major gainers.

On the other hand, NTPC and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled with gains.

European markets were mostly trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in the green on Tuesday.

"The upbeat domestic market continued reaching a new record high and easily recovered the last week's losses. This upward trend was predominantly supported by the Santa Claus rally in anticipation of early rate cuts by the US Fed and cooling global inflation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.21 per cent to USD 80.90 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 95.20 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark climbed 229.84 points or 0.32 per cent to settle at 71,336.80 on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 91.95 points or 0.43 per cent to 21,441.35.