Mumbai: Indian shares hit record high on Wednesday, as the blue-chip Nifty 50 index's brought fresh impetus into the market and boosted investor sentiment.
By 05:04 GMT, the NSE Nifty 50 index climbed 0.92 per cent to 16,281.35 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.93 per cent to 54,325.29.
"The momentum that has come after a clean break of 16,000-mark seems to have brought in or at least attracted fresh buyers. We have broken a month-long excruciatingly tight range of 400 points," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The breakout has also prompted several short-coverings and triggered buying in banking stocks, which were major laggards in the past few weeks, James said, adding that the rally seems to be driven mostly by the Nifty 50 components.
The Nifty Bank index, which shed more than 3 per cent in the past two weeks, added 1.7 per cent on Wednesday. The Nifty Financial Services Index rose 2 per cent, while the metals sub-index gained 1.5 per cent. HDFC was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index, rising 4.1%.
4.1%
HDFC was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index
Analysts also said strong quarterly results were aiding sentiment.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd rose 0.3 per cent after reporting a 15 per cent increase in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, helped by higher data usage and subscriber additions.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose as much as 2 per cent after reporting two-fold rise in June quarter profit. Meanwhile, India's central bank begins its three-day policy meeting on Wednesday, where it is expected to leave interest rates at record lows for a seventh straight time on Friday.
Markets are keeping an eye on liquidity measures about to be taken by the central bank.
