Sensex hits record high, Nifty around 16,700

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points to scale a fresh intra-day record in early trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.

After touching a lifetime high of 56,188.49 in the opening session, the 30-share index was trading 211.23 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 56,170.21. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 67.75 points or 0.41 per cent to 16,692.35.

Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 1 per cent, followed by NTPC, L&T, HDFC, Nestle India, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finserv.

On the other hand, Titan, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Asian Paints and Dr Reddy’s were among the laggards.

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In the previous session, Sensex ended 403.19 points or 0.73 per cent higher at its lifetime peak of 55,958.98, and Nifty surged 128.15 points or 0.78 per cent to its all-time closing high of 16,624.60.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,644.91 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.

"The resilience in global equities continues with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closing at fresh record highs. In India market momentum and sectoral rotation are taking the indices higher,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The Jackson Hole Symposium and the US Fed chief's commentary expected on August 27, will be keenly watched by global markets. If the Fed commentary indicates an earlier-than-expected tapering, FIIs are likely to press further sales. Investors may wait and watch, he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading in the red in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was positive.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.62 per cent to USD 69.97 per barrel.