Sensex reaches new high as Nifty crosses 9,700-mark

Mumbai: It was a record setting spree for the markets early on today as the NSE Nifty crossed the 9,700-mark for the first time and BSE Sensex shot up by 121 points to hit a fresh all-time high of 31,430.32.

Trading sentiments got a boost as investors widened positions ahead of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy review meet tomorrow amid a mixed trend in Asian region, brokers said.

The Nifty opened at 9,704.25, topping the 9,700 mark for the first time. It then gained 34.20 points, or 0.35 per cent, to trade at 9,709.30, breaching its previous intra-day high of 9,687.20 it touched yesterday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex too was on the uptrend, climbing 120.83 points, or 0.38 per cent, to quote at 31,430.32, breaking its previous all-time high of 31,355.42 (intra-day) that it touched yesterday.

The gauge had rallied 171.90 points in the previous two sessions. Sectoral indices led by IT, Teck, Auto, Realty, Metal, Healthcare, PSU and Banking were in the positive zone, rising up to 1.83 per cent.

Brokers also said that markets got a booster dose after the GST Council last week finalised rates for some pending commodities, which has now taken the rollout of the new indirect tax regime from July 1 a step closer.

Prominent gainers today were TCS, Infosys, GAIL, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, M&M, Sun pharma, ICICI Bank, HDFC Ltd, rising up to 3.66 per cent. A mixed trend prevailed in rest of Asia with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 0.27 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.72 per cent in early trade today.  Shanghai Composite Index down 0.14 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.10 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.