Sensex, Nifty hit life highs on FII buying

The BSE Sensex and Nifty rallied to record highs on Tuesday as strong buying by foreign investors continued to bolster blue chips in the lead-up to general elections, especially companies more geared towards the domestic economy such as HDFC Bank.

Still, a bout of profit-taking erased most of the gains from earlier in the session as some technical indicators such as the relative strength index indicating overbought conditions.

India's broader NSE ended up 0.19 per cent after earlier gaining as much as 1.1 per cent to hit a record high of 6,574.95 points, surpassing its previous record high hit on March 11. The BSE Sensex added 0.1 per cent after earlier rising as much as 1.1 per cent to an all-time high of 22,040.72 points, above its previous record hit on March 10.

Banks led gains on Tuesday, with YES Bank rising 2.2 per cent and State Bank of India advancing 2.9 per cent. Among other domestic-oriented blue chips, power equipment maker BHEL gained 0.6 per cent, while ITC rose 2.5 per cent.