Nifty hits record high; rupee strengthens

By Darshana Sankararaman

REUTERS - The NSE Nifty hit a record high on Tuesday, while the rupee strengthened against the dollar as a string of strong quarterly results including from Reliance Industries Ltd and positive global cues boosted the sentiment.

Reliance Industries Ltd climbed as much as 3.6 percent to its highest since May 2008, making it the biggest gainer on the NSE index, after the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate on Monday posted a 12.8 pct rise in fourth-quarter profit, beating expectations.

The rupee, meanwhile, strengthened to as much as 64.2750 per dollar, its highest since April 13, compared with its close at 64.44 on Monday.

Sentiment was also bolstered as Asian markets hit multi-year highs, reflecting the return of risk appetite after a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election.

"Global markets have been very positive on news from the French election," said Tirthankar Patnaik, India strategist, Mizuho Bank.

Quarterly results have also been decent so far, adding to the optimism in the market, he said.

The broader Nifty was up 0.57 percent at 9,270.90 by 0515 GMT. It rose to an all-time high of 9,279.80 earlier in the day, surpassing the previous peak on April 5.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.60 percent higher at 29,835.87.

Energy and financials stocks were among the top gainers on the NSE index. Bharat Petroleum Ltd and Indian Oil Corp Ltd rose about 3 percent each, while ICICI Bank Ltd gained 1 percent.

Among other gainers, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd gained up to 3.3 percent to a record high, after reporting on Monday a 24 percent increase in March-quarter consolidated profit.

Biocon Ltd jumped as much as 9.7 percent to a record high after the biopharmaceutical company said on Monday it was considering bonus share issue.

ACC Ltd, however, dropped more than 1 percent, having gained 7.5 percent in the previous session on the back of better-than-expected quarterly profit.

(Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)