Sensex, Nifty hold fresh highs as auto stocks lead the way

• HCL Technologies, Tata Motors, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra are some of the top gainers.
• Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Titan and Axis Bank are among the laggards.
• In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong are trading with gains.

Equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, hit new record peaks in opening trade on Friday and have managed to hold on to it after the first hour of trade, helped by a rally in global markets and fresh foreign inflows. Rallying for the 11th day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 255.46 points to hit its fresh all-time high of 67,774.46 in early trade. The Nifty went up by 70.05 points to reach its new lifetime peak of 20,173.15.

Among the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major gainers. In fact, at the time of publishing, four out of the top five gainers are auto stocks.

Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Titan and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

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

The US markets ended in positive territory on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 294.69 crore, according to exchange data.

"The participation of blue chips like Infosys, RIL, L&T, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank has imparted resilience to the ongoing rally. Even though the undercurrent of the market is bullish the high valuations and new risks like surging crude and rising dollar index can impact the market negatively.

"Brent crude at USD 94 is a major macro worry which the market cannot ignore for long," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.82% to USD 94.47 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 52.01 points or 0.08% to settle at 67,519 on Thursday. The Nifty advanced 33.10 points or 0.16% to end at its all-time closing high of 20,103.10.