Sensex hits another peak of 28,939.92; Nifty at 8,730.45

The BSE Sensex continued its record-setting spree and breached 28,900-mark and the NSE Nifty touched a new peak of 8,730.45 in early trade today on sustained fund inflows, driven by the encouraging corporate earnings coupled with pre-budget optimism among participants.

Rising for the fifth straight day, the 30-share index rose by 155.25 points, or 0.53 per cent, to hit a new peak of 28,939.92.

The gauge had gained almost 1,438 points in previous four sessions to close at a record high at 28,784.67 in yesterday's session. It had also touched an intra-day lifetime high of 28,829.29 in the previous session.

All the sectoral indices, led by banking, infrastructure and capital goods, were trading in positive zone with gains up to 1.03 per cent.

The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 34.85 points, or 0.40 per cent, to quote at its lifetime high of 8,730.45. The gauge had touched an intra-day high of 8,707.90 in yesterday's trade.

Stocks of ITC Ltd were up by 0.38 per cent to Rs 372.60 ahead of quarterly results to be released later in the day.

Brokers said continued buying by foreign funds as well as retail investors, triggered by the RBI's surprise rate cut last week and encouraging Q3 earnings by some bluechip companies lifted the key indices to new highs.

Besides, a mixed trend in the global markets on expectations of ECB stimulus and stabilising crude and commodity prices also boosted sentiments, they said.

Among the 30-Sensex stocks --  HDFC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Hind Unilever, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank,  Bharti Airtel, Coal India and TCS -- were the top performers during initial trade.

Among other Asian markets,  Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.36 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.45 per cent in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.02 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.