Sensex, Nifty touch record highs

Mumbai, July 18

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty continued their record-breaking rally on Tuesday, reaching new all-time high levels in early trade, amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in banking counters.

A positive trend in the US markets on Monday also contributed to the domestic benchmark indices optimism.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 395.57 points to reach its record intra-day peak of 66,985.50. The NSE Nifty climbed 99.8 points to hit its all-time high of 19,811.25.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti and Asian Paints were among the biggest gainers.

Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo quoted in the green, while Seoul and Shanghai were trading lower.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs 73 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.