Sensex rallies 222 pts to close at fresh record high

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped 222 points to settle at its new lifetime high of 40,469.78 on Wednesday, led by robust gains in bank stocks.

After opening on a choppy note, the 30-share Sensex touched an all-time intra-day high of 40,606.91 in late-afternoon trade. It finally ended 221.55 points, or 0.55 per cent, higher at 40,469.78.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty briefly reclaimed the 12,000 level, before finishing at 11,966.05, showing a gain of 48.85 points, or 0.41 per cent.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included ICICI Bank, Infosys, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, L&T, Yes Bank and HUL, spurting up to 2.64 per cent.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, RIL, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, HCL Tech, ITC and Sun Pharma slipped up to 3.31 per cent.

Benchmark indices have been on a rising spree on the back of strong earnings, hopes for another economic booster from the government and positive cues from global markets, experts said.

Globally, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled higher, while Shanghai ended in the red.

Exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in their respective early deals.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated by 28 paise to 70.97 against the US dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.81 per cent to USD 62.45 per barrel.