Sensex, Nifty at historic high levels; banks steal the show

The BSE Sensex today soared to the life-time high of 33,117.33 and the NSE Nifty scaled the historic 10,340.55 mark in opening trade as banking stocks rallied after the government announced a mega Rs 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation plan for NPA-hit state-run lenders.

The 30-share Sensex soared 509.99 points, or 1.56 per cent, to quote at an all-time high of 33,117.33 points, breaching its previous record high (intra-day) of 32,699.86 hit on October 17.

The gauge had gained 224.41 points in the previous two straight sessions.

Banking behemoth SBI rallied 19.47 per cent while private peers ICICI Bank and Axis Bank soared up to 8 per cent in early trade, sending the barometer indices to record high.

All the sectoral indices led by bank, PSU, capital goods and infrastructure were trading in the positive zone with gains of up to 6.27 per cent.

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The 50-share Nifty also hit a historic high of 10,340.55 by climbing 132.85 points, or 1.30 per cent. It also smashed previous record (intra-day) of 10,251.85 points reached on October 17.

Sentiment got a lift after the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday announced a massive Rs 6.92 lakh crore infrastructure spending and another Rs 2.11 lakh crore for bank recapitalisation to revive investments as well as growth, brokers said.

Among the PSU-banks, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, IOB, IDBI Bank, Andhra Bank, UCO Bank and Bank of Maharashtra were at the centre stage and recorded gains by up to 30 per cent.

Infrastructure segment stocks such as l&T, NHPC, HCC NCC were major gainers, helping the key indices to scale new highs.

Globally, in the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.12 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang gained 0.67 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.10 per cent in their early deals.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.72 per cent in yesterday's trade.