Sensex opens to a record high of 35,476.70; Rally in bank shares lead the surge

The BSE Sensex continued its record-setting spree for a second day, scaling a new high of 35,476.70 in opening trade today as banking stocks led rally on sustained foreign fund inflows. Also, the broader NSE Nifty zoomed to a new high of 10,887.10. The 30-share index rallied by 394.88 points, or 1.12 per cent, to hit the peak of 35,476.70, breaching its previous intra-day high of 35,118.61 hit yesterday.

At 10:28 AM, Sensex was trading in green with 35,443.95 points while Nifty was at 10,868.20.

Foreign investors put in Rs 625.13 crore in stocks on net basis yesterday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 168.61 crore, provisional data showed. All the sectoral indices, led by banking, FMCG and capital goods were trading in the positive zone with gains up to 1.92 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 98.55 points, or 0.91 per cent, to trade at lifetime high of 10,887.10.

The gauge had touched an intra-day high of 10,803 in yesterday's trade. In the banking space, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were prominent gainers. Stocks of Hindustan Unilever were up by 0.81 per cent to Rs 1,382.95 after the company posted better-than-expected earnings yesterday. Hero MotoCorp, M&M, L&T, Dr Reddy's, ITC Ltd, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and Sun Pharma were the other gainers during initial trade.

Brokers said continued buying by foreign funds as well as retail investors after the government's decision to slash its additional borrowing requirement for the current fiscal to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 50,000 crore, estimated earlier and encouraging Q3 earnings by some bluechip companies lifted the key indices to new highs.

Besides, a firm trend in the global markets also boosted sentiments, they said. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.41 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.46 per cent in early trade today. Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.32 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.25 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)