Sensex crosses 38,000 for the first time

Sensex breached the 38,000 barrier for the first time in early trades on Thursday morning. The markets are in high spirits after IMF prediction that Indian economy is in good hands. 

Sensex jumped 117.47 points to 38,005.03 and Nifty too opened at a fresh record high. Nifty opened 7.70 points at 11,477.70. Metal, energy, PSU banks are the top grainers and currently, all sectoral indices are trading in green. 671 shares have advanced in the early trade. 

Benchmarks rallied to fresh lifetime highs on Wednessday too on persistent investor appetite for market heavyweight RIL, while the broader buying momentum got a fillip after IMF underlined India's role as a source of global growth.The BSE Sensex vaulted 221.76 points to close at a new peak of 37,887.56. The broader NSE Nifty extended its record-setting run for the fourth session and finished above the 11,400-mark for the first time.

Analysts said strong liquidity in the market following unabated buying by foreign as well as domestic institutional investors and encouraging Q1 earnings bolstered sentiment.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 568.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 30.25 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Asian shares were mixed in early trade amid rising trade tensions between the US and China.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.89 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.83 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.27 per cent in early deals.

With agency inputs