Nifty at all time high; banks lead

Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank among the top gainers among Nifty-50

Nifty hit a record high at 7,808 in morning deals lead by gains in banks. Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank were the top gainers among Nifty-50.
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(Updated at 1000 hrs)
Markets opened on a strong note with the Nifty starting close to its all time high of a little over 7,800.

The upmove was supported by positive global cues and gains in heavyweights like L&T, ICICI Bank, ITC and Infosys.

At 0920 hrs, the Sensex was up 125 points at 26,151 and the Nifty gained 32 points to open at 7,799.

The broader markets were in line with the benchmark index opening 0.5% higher.

Buying was visible across the sectors. All the sectoral indices on BSE were in green in opening trades.

Some of the notable names in red in an otherwise exuberant market were Tata Power, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, HDFC and Hero MotoCorp down 0.3-0.5%.

The market breadth was positive on BSE. 955 stocks advanced while 372 stocks declined.

Asian Markets

Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday as risk aversion triggered by recent geopolitical tensions continued to ebb, while the Australian dollar spiked on stronger-than-expected inflation data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%, lifted after the S&P 500 hit a new high overnight as risk markets turned their attention to positive corporate earnings and economic data.

In contrast the Nikkei was effectively flat as the Tokyo markets chose to keep their focus on tensions in Gaza and the Middle East.