Sensex rallies 300 points to hit fresh record of 38,585, Nifty touches lifetime high of 11,651; metal, banking, PSU stocks gain

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex rallied over 300 points to hit a fresh record high of 38,585.44, while NSE Nifty touched a lifetime record of 11,651 in early session today amid positive global cues and smart gains in banking, metal and FMCG stocks. The 30-share index spurted by 333.64 points, or 0.87 percent, to hit a new peak of 38,585.44, breaching its previous high of 38,487.63 reached on 23 August. The gauge had lost 84.96 points in previous session on Friday. All sectoral indices, led by metal, banking, consumer durables and PSU stocks were trading in the positive zone with gains of up to 1.52 percent. The 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 94.40 points, or 0.82 percent, to scale its lifetime high of 11,651, bettering its previous intra-day high of 11,620.70 touched on 23 August. Positive leads from other Asian markets tracking weekend gains on the Wall Street after comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman in support of a gradual approach to raising rates bolstered trading sentiments here, brokers said. Prominent gainers include Yes Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, SBI, Kotak Bank, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, RIL and Vedanta, rising up to 2.24 percent. [caption id=“attachment_4335819” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AP[/caption] Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 904.75 crore on Friday, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 75.78 crore, provisional exchange data showed. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.87 percent and Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.21 percent in their early deals. Japan’s Nikkei too edged higher by 0.79 percent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.52 percent higher on Friday. Rupee strengthens The rupee appreciated by 20 paise to 69.71 against the US dollar in early trade today on increased selling of the US currency by exporters amid a higher opening of the domestic equity market. Currency traders said weakness in the dollar against major global currencies overseas after comments from the Federal Reserve Chairman in support of a gradual approach to raising rates, supported the rupee. On Friday, the rupee recovered to end higher by 20 paise at 69.91 against the US currency on bouts of dollar selling by exporters and corporates.