Markets hit record highs (Roundup)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday touched a record high of 27,390.60 points surpassing its previous high of 27,354.99 hit on Sep 8.

All the sectors were trading in green and the rally was led by IT, oil and gas, consumer durables, capital goods, banking and technology, media and entertainment (TECK) sectors.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 27,098.94 points, closed trade at 27,346.33 points, up 248.16 points or 0.92 percent from the previous day's close at 27,098.17 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,390.60 points and a low of 27,088.65 points in the trade so far.

The S&P IT index gained by 210.22 points, oil and gas index increased by 177.25 points, consumer durables index moved up by 159.71 points, capital goods index got augmented by 144.78 points, bankex inched up by 136.55 points and TECK index went up by 101.83 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed trade up 78.75 points or 0.97 percent at 8,169.20 points after touching record high of 8,181.55, surpassing its previous high hit on Sep 8.

"Fed Reserve's growing optimism towards an economic recovery is encouraging. India's external sector should benefit from an expanding aggregate demand in the US, where consumer confidence and employment are on an uptrend already.

"Withdrawing quantitative easing should not have any major implications on India especially due to the added protection of Fed refraining from raising rates and Dr Rajan's strict vigil on the Indian interest rate regime," said Debopam Chaudhuri, chief economist, ZyFin Research.

The major Sensex gainers were: Reliance Industries Ltd, up 2.94 percent at Rs.979.30; Hindalco, up 2.39 percent at Rs.160.40; TCS, up 2.21 percent at Rs.2557.90 and GAIL, up 1.93 percent at Rs.509.65.

The losers were: Sesa Sterlite Limited, down 1.12 percent at Rs.252.70; Cipla, down 0.77 percent at Rs.650.55; Mahindra & Mahindra, down 0.67 percent at Rs.1,287.60 and Tata Power, down 0.66 percent at Rs.90.25.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei went up by 0.67 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained by 0.76 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 0.49 percent.In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down by 0.99 percent, France's CAC 40 was 0.97 percent down and Germany's DAX Index went down by 1.32 percent.