The Sensex and the Nifty gained over 0.4 per cent at the closing session on Wednesday on heavy capital inflows coupled with firm global cues.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 105.05 points or 0.47 per cent at 22,551.49 and the Nifty was up 33.75 points or 0.5 per cent at 6,754.80.
Barring FMCG and metal, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the green. Among them, realty, healthcare, oil & gas and capital goods indices remained investors' favourite and were up 1.83 per cent, 1.57 per cent, 1.43 per cent and 1.18 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, FMCG index was down 1.5 per cent and metal 0.5 per cent.
Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, SBI, Cipla and ONGC were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were ITC, Hindalco, SSLT, HDFC Bank and HUL.
Intra-day high
The Sensex opened higher at 22,550.58 and firmed up further to an all-time high of 22,592.10 in the morning trade. Similarly, the Nifty registered an all-time high of 6,757.60.
Brokers said that the trading sentiment remained positive as foreign investors indulged in pumping more funds into Indian equities amid a firm trend in the Asian region, following overnight gains in the US markets on positive manufacturing data.
Besides, RBI keeping key rates unchanged also influenced the trading sentiment, they said.
Global stocks
Most European stocks and emerging-market stocks rose, while Treasuries and German bunds fell with the yen ahead of reports that may signal that the US economic recovery is gathering pace.
Asian stocks were up tracking overnight cues from the Wall Street.
US stocks rose, as consumer and technology shares pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to an all-time high, after an increase in a manufacturing index boosted optimism that the economy withstood severe winter weather.
The signs of economic improvement come as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen had on March 31 signalled that the central bank’s monetary stimulus would be needed for “some time” because of “considerable slack” in the labour market.