Nifty rises to record high on heavy foreign buying

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Nifty gained only 0.1 percent on Tuesday, but it was enough to hit a record high as blue chips such as ICICI Bank extended recent gains bolstered by buying from foreign institutional investors.

The gains offset steep falls in Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corp following an unexpected request by India's Election Commission late on Monday for the government to defer a rise in gas prices.

The Nifty rose as much as 0.1 percent to an all time high of 6,592.15 points, surpassing its previous all-time high hit just on Monday by less than one point.

The Sensex was up 0.04 percent, just a few points shy of making a new record high.

ICICI Bank gained 1.2 percent, while ITC rose 0.9 percent.

Overseas investors have helped underpin gains, buying shares worth 14.65 billion rupees on Monday, with net purchases in shares reaching $2.27 billion so far this month, according to regulatory data.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Rafael Nam)