Sensex hits fresh record high of 31,233; Nifty surges upwards at 9,638

The BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 31,233 by surging over 74 points, and NSE Nifty touched fresh lifetime high of 9,638 in early trade on Wednesday on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors.

Rising for the fifth straight day, the 30-share index rose by 74.28 points, or 0.23%, to hit a new peak of 31,233.68.

The gauge had gained almost 857.76 points in previous four sessions to close at a record high at 31,159.40 in Tuesday's session. It had also touched an intra-day lifetime high of 31,220.38 in the previous session. All the sectoral indices, led by realty, auto and consumer durables, were trading in positive zone with gains up to 1.08%.

The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 14.15 points, or 0.14%, to scale its lifetime high of 9,638.70. The gauge had touched an intra-day high of 9,637.75 on May 29.

Among the 30-Sensex stocks -- M&M, PowerGrid, Lupin, Bharti Airtel, GAIL, L&T, SBI, Maruti Suzuki Coal India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Cipla -- were the top performers during initial trade. 

Continued buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) helped the key indices to hit record hits, brokers said. Besides, sentiment remained extremely bullish as investors cheered the early arrival of monsoon and engaged in widening their positions, they said.

Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 366.97 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 217.10 croreday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.04%, while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.27% in their early deals. Japan's Nikkei, however, fell 0.09 %.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.24% lower in Tuesday's trade.