Photographs: Reuters SI Reporter in Mumbai
Benchmark indices regained lost ground in closing deals after trimming initial gains during the day.
Both Sensex and Nifty touched record intra-day highs levels on back of potential foreign fund inflows.
It was the tenth session of consecutive gains as investors lapped up heavyweight oil & gas and auto stocks among others.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 105 points higher at 22,551 levels and the 50-unit Nifty was up 32 points at 6,752.
Heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel collectively lifted the benchmark Sensex 109 points higher while losses in ITC and HDFC Bank capped the gains.
Meanwhile, foreigners' betting on Indian stocks in hopes of a revival in the economy post elections is the primary reason behind the the recent rally.
FII inflows continued unabated on Tuesday with Rs 385.66 worth of local shares, as per provisional data from exchanges.
Foreigners have been aggressive buyers of Indian stocks in the last 15 trading sessions.
Among heavyweights, Reliance Industries rose to hit 52-week high on Tuesday.
Telecom carrier Bharti Airtel, which surged over 3% to Rs 326.10, emerged the top gainer followed by Tata Motors which added 2.6% to close at Rs 413.55.
Cigarette to hotel conglomerate –ITC shed 2.3% to close at Rs 344.25 on Tuesday and was the top looser on both Sensex and Nifty.
Market-wide buying was witnessed heavily in realty, healthcare, oil & gas and capital good stocks.
The BSE indices tracking stocks of these sectors were up 1-1.8% on Tuesday. BSE FMCG and metal indices were the only laggards.
Aurobindo Pharma moved higher by 4.5% to close at Rs 558.80, also its new high on the BSE, after the company said it has completed the acquisition of certain commercial operations of Actavis plc in Western Europe.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks on Tuesdday with both BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices surging 1.6% against Sensex's 0.5% upmove.
Among mid-caps, Wockhardt and SKS Microfinance remained in focus; Wockhardt got locked in its upper circuit of 20%; it surged 552 levels on the BSE, the counter witnessed heavy volumes.
SKS Microfinance added 8.3% to Rs 233.95, extending its 9% rally in past three trading sessions on the BSE, after the company said it has completed the thirteenth securitization transaction during the financial year 2013-14 (FY14) of Rs 159.80 crore.
The market breadth in BSE remains firm with 1895 shares advancing and 896 shares declining.
Around the Globe
Globally, Asian share markets added to their recent rally on Wednesday as investors chose to accentuate the positive in a mixed bag of global economic data, pressuring the safe haven yen to a 10-week trough.
Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a fresh three-week high on Wednesday as sentiment was helped by a weakening yen.
The Nikkei ended up 1.0 percent at 14,946.32, the highest closing level since March 11.
The broader Topix rose 0.6 percent to 1,211.36. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400, a gauge comprised of companies with a high return on equity and robust corporate governance, added 0.6 percent to 10,966.92.
Even sluggishness in China is now considered favorably since it adds to the case for stimulus, and there are signs Beijing is hastening infrastructure spending in response.
Trading was cautious, however, ahead of Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank and Friday's U.S. jobs numbers, both of which could move markets in major ways.
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