Sensex, Nifty continue their record march as banking stocks rally

• Banking stocks like IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank are the top gainers in trade.
• Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Titan, UltraTech Cement are some of the laggards.
• FIIs continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs 73 crore on Monday

Equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, continued their record-breaking rally on Tuesday, reaching new all-time high levels in early trade, amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in banking counters. A positive trend in the US markets on Monday also contributed to the domestic benchmark indices optimism.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 395.57 points to reach its record intra-day peak of 66,985.50. The NSE Nifty climbed 99.8 points to hit its all-time high of 19,811.25. At the time of publishing, the Sensex is up 200 odd points while the Nifty is above the 19,750 mark.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti and Asian Paints were among the biggest gainers.

Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo quoted in the green, while Seoul and Shanghai were trading lower.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs 73 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

"The global market construct continues to be favourable for the bulls. The declining dollar and the capital flows to emerging markets that it triggers can impart resilience to the market. However, high valuations and possible profit-booking can restrain the rally. A healthy consolidation can be the near-term trend," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.38% to USD 78.80 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark had jumped 529.03 points or 0.80% to settle at its new all-time closing high of 66,589.93 on Monday. The Nifty went up by 146.95 points or 0.75% to end at a record high of 19,711.45.

(Text input from PTI)