The Indian equity benchmarks rallied for fifth straight session on Monday and closed at all-time highs led by gains in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and Nestle India. The Sensex rose as much as 408 points to hit an all-time high of 62,701 and Nifty 50 index touched record high of 18,614.
The Sensex ended 211 points higher at 62,505 and Nifty 50 index advanced 50 points to close at record high of 18,563.
The benchmarks crossed new all-time highs for first time after 13 months.
Since October last year, the Indian markets have outperformed their global peers on the back of strong economic fundamentals and robust buying by domestic institutional investors despite fears of recession in developed economies like US and Europe, analysts said.
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have so far this year sold shares worth Rs 1,37,167 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have absorbed that selling pressure by buying stocks worth Rs 2,57,172 crore, data from Ace Equities showed.
Nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Oil & Gas index's nearly 2 per cent gain. Nifty Auto, Bank, FMCG, Pharma, PSU Bank and Private Bank indices also ended higher.
On the other hand, select metal, media, consumer durables and financial services shares faced selling pressure.
Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 0.7 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 1.2 per cent.
Bharat Petroleum was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 5 per cent to Rs 341. Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Consumer Products, SBI Life, Asian Paints, Nestle India and Bajaj Finserv were also among the gainers.
On the flipside, Hindalco, Apollo Hospitals, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Grasim Industries, Infosys, HCL Technologies, HDFC and ONGC were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 2,092 shares ended higher while 1,511 closed lower on the BSE.
