Sensex settles at fresh life-time high; Nifty ekes out marginal gains

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices ended the trade in the positive territory on Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex closing at its fresh life-time high of 61,980.72, helped by buying in banking counters.

After facing highs and lows during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex finally ended 107.73 points or 0.17 per cent higher at 61,980.72. During the day, the index hit its 52-week high of 62,052.57, higher by 179.58 points.

The broader NSE Nifty ended marginally higher by 6.25 points or 0.03 per cent to 18,409.65.

From the Sensex pack, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Tata Consultancy Services were among the major winners.

Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and IndusInd Bank were among the major laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower, while Tokyo ended higher.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly lower in the afternoon session. Wall Street had ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.28 per cent higher at USD 94.12 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 221.32 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.