Sensex hits record high,Nifty crosses 17,000

The Indian Sensex sky rocketed to record highs on Thursday on the back of strong global cues after the US Fed signaled that tapering could start earlier than market expectations but kept interest near record lows. The Sensex rose as much as 1,030 points to hit record high of 59,957.25, within striking distance away from 60,000 mark and Nifty 50 index closed above its important psychological level of 17,800 for the first time led by gains in banking, financial services, and oil & gas shares.

The Sensex surged 958 points to close at record high of 59,885.36 and Nifty 50 index climbed 176 points to settle at an all-time high of 17,823. The Fed said last night it will likely begin tapering its monthly bond buying as early as November, and indicated it could raise interest rates more quickly than expected.Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank. Infosys, ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro were among the top movers in the Sensex. They collectively contributed over 750 points towards the Sensex.

Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Metal, IT, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also surged between 1.5-2.5 per cent.Broader markets also witnessed strong buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 1.5 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index jumped 0.8 per cent.

Bajaj Finserv was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.63 per cent to close at record high of ₹ 18,430. Hindalco, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Coal India, HDFC, Axis Bank, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries also rose between 2.4-4.5 per cent. On the flipside, HDFC Life, Dr Reddy's Labs, JSW Steel, Tata Consumer Products, ITC, Nestle India and Britannia Industries were among the notable losers.