Sensex closes above 27,000-mark (Roundup)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets breached the 27,000-mark for the first time to hit a record high of 27,082.85 points Tuesday -- surpassing its previous peak of 26,900.30 points scaled Sep 1.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,888.21 points, closed trade at 27,019.39 points, up 151.84 points or 0.57 percent from the previous day's close at 26,867.55 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,082.85 points and a low of 26,886.22 points in the intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) which crossed the 8,000-mark for the first time Monday hit a new record high of 8,101.95 points.

The Nifty closed trade at 8,083.05 points -- 55.35 points or 0.69 percent up from its previous close.

On Monday, the Sensex had hit a record high of 26,900.30 points, surpassing its previous peak of 26,674.38 points scaled Aug 28.

"The sentiment has been very positive as investors are buying into the India story which has seen some encouraging signs like improved GDP growth, likely funding support from Japan and soft crude prices," said Sanjeev Zarbade, vice president - private client group research, Kotak Securities.

"Having said that, while the market outlook is positive, investors need to be watchful of an impending correction."

Healthy buying was observed in consumer durables, healthcare, bank, oil and gas and fast moving consumer durables (FMCG) index, while heavy selling was seen in metal, capital goods index.

The S&P BSE consumer durables index was up 273.12 points, healthcare was higher by 246.66 points, bank index rose by 116.85 points, oil and gas index increased by 113.34 points and FMCG index augmented by 53.42 points.

However, metal index was down 103.82 points and capital goods index was lower by 11.05 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Cipla, up 5.23 percent at Rs.557.40; Bharti Airtel, up 4.24 percent at Rs.391.90; Sun Pharma, up 2.50 percent at Rs.863.15; HDFC Bank, up 2.01 percent at Rs.858.50; and Hero MotoCorp, up 1.54 percent at Rs.2,801.65.

The losers were: Sesa Sterlite, down 1.87 percent at Rs.227.60; Tata Power, down 1.05 percent at Rs.89.10; Hindalco Inds, down 0.99 percent at Rs.174.45; Wipro, down 0.91 percent at Rs.560.60; and Tata Steel, down 0.89 percent at Rs.519.20.

Among Asian markets, the Nikkei closed 1.24 percent up, Hong Kong's Hang Sang was marginally down by 0.01 percent and China's Shanghai Composite index rose 1.37 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.06 percent, Germany's DAX Index was 0.43 percent higher and France's CAC 40 was up by 0.16 percent.