Sensex Hits Fresh All-Time High, Nifty Above 11,140

The S&P BSE Sensex on Wednesday hit a fresh all-time high of 36,947.18 after opening at a record level of 36,928.06. The session was choppy as the Nifty50 traded with losses for some part of the morning session. However, it recovered by the latter half. At 1:10 pm, Nifty traded at 11,149, with a gain of 14.70 points or 0.13 per cent. Nifty was about 30 points away from its life-time high of 11,171.55 that it registered on January 29. At the same time, the Sensex was at 36,919.26, up 94.16 points or 0.26 per cent.

The major gainers in the Nifty pack were Indiabulls Housing Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Vedanta, Adani Ports and HDFC.

Adani Ports, Vedanta and HDFC were also among the top Sensex gainers. ONGC, Tata Steel, and YES Bank were the other top Sensex gainers.

Banking, metal, financial services, and FMCG stocks led the gains in the Nifty.

"We'll see a mid-cap rally if NSE crosses 11,171," news agency Reuters quoted Rusmik Oza, senior vice-president (head of fundamental research) at Kotak Securities, as saying.

"Because of a low base last year due to factors like GST, we are expecting good results this quarter and the next, and the market will continue its upward movement."

On Tuesday, the Sensex and Nifty closed at record closing highs. Foreign portfolio investors bought shares of a net value of Rs 104.34 crore and domestic institutional investors net purchased equities worth Rs 513.78, according to provisional data from NSE.

Asian stocks were higher, supported by strong Wall Street earnings and hopes China's government spending would boost growth but trade tensions remain in focus ahead of a meeting between the US and European Commission presidents, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index was little changed after brushing a one-month high. South Korea's KOSPI lost 0.15 per cent and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5 per cent.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed at its highest level since February 1 as Alphabet's blowout results bolstered expectations of a robust earnings season. (With Reuters inputs)