The benchmark Sensex continued its rally and closed above the 22,500 mark at its highest closing for the sixth day in succession. Backed by sustained inflow of funds from the foreign institutional investors (FII), Sensex surged by 105.05 points and closed at a record high of 22,551.49. The index also touched its new all time high of 22,592.10 on Wednesday.
The broader index, Nifty also surged by 31.5 points to its highest closing ever of 6,752.55. Nifty also made a new all time high of 6,763.50 on the intra- day basis. Rupee on the other hand closed flat at Rs 59.90 per dollar, with a gain of just one paisa.
The rupee ended flat after surrendering initial gains on mild dollar selling by exporters, forex experts said. The domestic currency started the session higher at Rs 59.80 per dollar and further surged to an eight-month high of Rs 59.50 per dollar.
Dealers said initial dollar selling by exporters and strong local equities helped the local currency rise during the first half of the session. It finally ended at Rs 59.90 per dollar, showing a mere gain of a paisa from its previous close with exporters selling dollar.
On the other hand, Sensex started the day on a stronger note and spurted further to its all-time record of 22,592.10 intra-day, with freash buying seen in real estate, oil & gas, healthcare, capital goods, power and consumer durable stocks. It had set new high levels at close in the previous five sessions as well.
As per experts, indices are primarily being driven by FIIs with very little participation from retail investors. As per the provisional data provided by the stock exchanges, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 594.67 crore during the session on Wednesday.
Off the 30 stocks comprising Sensex, 20 shares advanced while the remaining 10 stocks declined. The top gainers of the index included Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, State Bank of India and Cipla as they surged by 3.34 per cent, 2.62 per cent, 2.06 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. ITC was the biggest loser on the index as it slid by 2.31 per cent.