Sensex, Nifty set new record; ONGC, SBI among top gainers in early trade

Markets on Monday breached all previous records to open at record high. The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 117.35 points at 33274.57 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 45.80 points to 10,368.80.

ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Maruti Suzuki, Vedanta and Reliance Industries were early gainers.

Buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) lifted mood too, traders said.

Other Asian markets saw a firming trend as investors tracked a record closing on Wall Street on Friday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading higher by 0.06 per cent while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.35 per cent. Shanghai Composite, however, shed 0.09 per cent today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.14 per cent higher on Friday.

This week will be a results-heavy as we have big results which are HDFC, Marico, Dr Reddy's, Divis, IDBI Bank, Shriram Transport and Tech Mahindra.

Meanwhile, The rupee started with a high today strengthening 16 paise to 64.89 against the dollar after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would soon taper off its monetary stimulus.

It got more lift from fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid stronger domestic equities.

The dollar's weakness against the euro and other currencies overseas following the ECB move triggered the rise in the local unit, traders said.

On Friday, the rupee had taken a big knock by plunging 23 paise to close at 65.05 a dollar.