Sensex only a whisker away from hitting 85,000

Domestic equity indices Sensex and Nifty scaled their new record closing high levels on Monday, helped by strong foreign fund inflows and a largely firm trend in Asian markets.

Rallying for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 384.30 points, or 0.45 per cent, to settle at an all-time high of 84,928.61.

During the day, it soared 436.22 points, or 0.51 per cent, to hit a fresh lifetime intra-day peak of 84,980.53.

The NSE Nifty rose 148.10 points, or 0.57 per cent, to close at a record peak of 25,939.05.

During the day, it zoomed 165.05 points, or 0.63 per cent, to reach a new intra-day all-time high of 25,956.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, and Tata Steel were the biggest gainers.

ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, and Larsen & Toubro were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 14,064.05 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

"The charging bull got a shot of steroids from the Fed when it cut interest rates by 50 bps on September 18th.

"More than the rate cut, it was the Fed chief's optimistic commentary that lifted the markets sharply," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai settled higher while Hong Kong ended lower. Markets in Japan were closed on Monday for a holiday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.09 per cent to $74.55 a barrel.