Sensex breaches 36,700-mark; Nifty touches 11,700 point

The key Indian equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- crossed the psychological marks of 36,700 points and 11,700 points for the first time on Monday before closing the day's trade just below the landmark levels.

Supported by firm global cues, the Sensex and the Nifty 50 touched their all-time high levels of 38,736.88 points and 11,700.95 points respectively and also settled at record closing levels.

Healthy buying was witnessed in banking, consumer durables and IT stocks, analysts said. The S&P BSE banking index surged around 530 points during the day.

At 3.30 p.m., the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange provisionally closed at 11,691.95 points, higher by 134.85 points or 1.17 per cent from its previous close of 11,557.10 points.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which had opened at 38,472.03 points, closed at 38,694.11 points, higher by 442.31 points or 1.16 per cent from its previous close of 38,251.80 points.

It touched an intra-day low of 38,416.73 points.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Infosys, while Sun Pharma was the only loser during the day.

--IANS

rrb/prs