Rising for the sixth straight day, the BSE benchmark Sensex today climbed to yet another record closing high of 22,551.49 on increased foreign fund inflows mainly in banking and oil stocks amid firm global trends.
In the day trade, the 30-share index touched all-time high of 22,592.10 for the seventh day in a row. Later, it settled at 22,551.49, up by 105.05 points, or 0.47 per cent, over previous close.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange's index Nifty rose by 31.50 points, or 0.47 per cent, to record closing high of 6,752.55, after scaling an intra-day peak of 6,763.50.
Gains in Reliance Industries (1.68 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.53 per cent) and Tata Motors (2.62 per cent) helped Sensex scale another peak, brokers said.
The upsurge was also backed by drugmakers and financial companies following the election commission allowing RBI to issue licences for setting new banks, they said.
The under performer drugmakers were in keen demand after speculation that the US regulator may ease an import ban on Indian drugs firms.
Cipla rose by 2 per cent while Dr Reddy's was up close to 1 per cent.
In 30-BSE index-components, 19 stocks gained.
Bharti Airtel rose the most by 3.34 per cent among Sensex scrips after brokerage firm CLSA said that the company with 201 million subscribers is best placed to take a lead in the data ramp-up in the country.
Larsen and Toubro, SBI and HDFC were also among major gainers.
A firming trend in the Asian region and higher opening in Europe also strengthened the market sentiment, brokers said.
The interest-sensitive realty sector was the star performer by rising 1.89 per cent, followed by Healthcare index by 1.57 per cent.
Oil and gas index rose by 1.43 per cent and capital goods index by 1.18 per cent. The banking sector index also added 0.93 per cent.