Sensex hits record peak of 40,435; Nifty nears 12K

Markets witnessed a strong opening on Monday taking cues from Asian peers and rewarding better-than-expected Q2 earnings. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 40,434.83 but corrected a bit to hover around 40,390 level. Vedanta and Tata Steel were the top gainers on the index, up 3 per cent each. On the downside, YES Bank was trading over 4 per cent lower as the top loser. On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 was trading above 11,900-mark at 11,950.

Mumbai:Market benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 269 points to hit its intraday peak of 40,434.83 in early trade on Monday led by gains in ICICI Bank, RIL, ITC, TCS and HDFC Bank amid positive global cues and unabated foreign fund inflow.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 75.85 points to 11,966.45, inching closer to the 12,000 marks.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Vedanta, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel, rising up to 3.20 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and HUL fell up to 4.80 per cent.

In the previous session, the 30-share Sensex settled 35.98 points or 0.09 per cent, higher at 40,165.03. The Nifty advanced 13.15 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 11,890.60.

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Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased a Rs 533.37 crore in the capital market, on Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 136.50 crore, data available with the stock exchange showed.

According to experts, better liquidity from FIIs and mutual funds will maintain a positive sentiment in the market given de-escalation in geopolitical risks and focus on upcoming reforms to revive growth.

Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading higher on optimism over the US-China trade deal after China's commerce ministry on Saturday announced that top Chinese and US trade negotiators "reached consensus on principles".

Indices in Tokyo, however, were in the red.

Shares on Wall Street too ended higher after data showing the US economy continued to add jobs at a steady clip despite turbulence from the trade war with China.

On the currency front, the rupee appreciated 16 paise against the US dollar to trade at 70.65 in early session.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.53 per cent to USD 61.36 per barrel.