Nifty hits lifetime high of 6,562.85 on widespread buying

Continuing its record-breaking spree, the NSE Nifty hit yet another intra-day lifetime peak of 6,562.85 in late morning trade today on a rally led by banking stocks on the back of sustained foreign capital inflows driven by an improvement in the domestic economy.

The 50-issue NSE Nifty shot up by 25.60 points, or 0.39 per cent, to trade at an all-time high of 6,562.85, surpassing its previous intra-day high of 6,562.20 reached in yesterday's trade.

Brokers said reports that foreign funds have been major buyers on the domestic bourses on the back of country's improving economy and narrowing current account deficit in the third quarter of 2013-14 helped the Nifty to reach new highs.

Further, a firming trend in other Asian markets also influenced the trading sentiments here, they said.

Major gainers which contributed to the Nifty were ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Tata Power and Larsen and Toubro.

The 30-share index, Sensex, also rose by 83.69 points, or 0.38 per cent, to trade at 22,018.52 in late morning trade. It had touched an intra-day record high of 22,023.98 in yesterday's trade.

Among banking stocks, ICICI Bank gained 2.03 per cent, followed by SBI (0.71 per cent) and Axis Bank (1.41 per cent).

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.18 per cent while Japan's Nikkei was trading higher by 0.74 per cent.