Diwali at markets: Sensex jumps 255 points to fresh high of 32,687.32

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex and the broader Nifty climbed to new life-time highs of 32,687.32 and 10,242.45 points, respectively, in opening session on the back of gains in banking, FMCG, auto and oil and gas stocks.

Uninterrupted buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bolstered the trading sentiment, traders said. The rally came on the back of widespread gains led by metal, auto, FMCG, banking and oil & gas stocks.

Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries was trading higher by 0.43 per cent at Rs 880.50 after the company on Friday reported a 12.5 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit.

The 30-share Sensex soared 254.63 points, or 0.78 per cent to scale a new high of 32,687.32, breaking its previous intra-day record of 32,686.48 hit on August 2.

The 50-share NSE Nifty too spurted by 75 points, or 0.73 per cent to scale a fresh life-time high of 10,242.45, surpassing its previous intra-day record of 10,191.90 touched in Friday.

Major gainers that shot the key indices to record highs were Cipla, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, M&M, Power Grid, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Kotak Bank, ITC Ltd, Asian Paint and L&T, rising by up to 2.07 per
cent.

A firming trend at other Asian markets as investors tracked another positive lead from Wall Street, influenced the sentiment. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading higher by 0.94 per cent, while Shanghai Composite rose 0.14 per cent in late
morning trade.

Japan's Nikkei too was up 0.63 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.13 per cent higher on Friday.