Sensex gains 310 points, ends near record high

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday, approaching its record high hit earlier this month after telecom stocks surged following Idea Cellular's better-than-expected earnings while stronger Asian shares also bolstered sentiment.

Gains were also helped after energy conglomerate Reliance Industries rallied for a second day after its quarterly earnings out on Saturday beat estimates.

The BSE Sensex gained for the sixth consecutive session, helped by buying from foreign investors.

Overseas investors bought Indian shares worth 1.61 billion rupees ($26.73 million) on Monday, marking inflows of $539.4 million over four consecutive days of buying, exchange and regulatory data showed.

Asian shares gained as well on Tuesday, helped by the first signs of cooperation from Ukraine's pro-Russian separatists over the downed Malaysian Airlines plane.

"Markets have digested pre-budget expectations and post-budget worries. Now, the focus would be on flows and delivery of earnings," said Vijay Kedia, managing director at Kedia Securities Pvt Ltd.

The broader Nifty rose 1.1 percent, or 83.65 points, to end at 7,767.85.

The index is not too far from its record high of 7,808.85 hit on July 8, a couple of days before the new government's maiden budget.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 1.21 percent, or 310.63 points, to end at 26,025.80, closing above the psychologically important 26,000 level.

Telecom stocks rose after Idea Cellular Ltd's April-June profit beat estimates while sector regulator's guidelines for mobile phone spectrum sharing also helped sentiment.

Bharti Airtel Ltd and Idea Cellular rose 5 percent each, while Reliance Communications ended 3.9 percent higher.

Reliance Industries rose 3.3 percent, adding to Monday's 2.14 percent gain after its April-June earnings on Saturday beat estimates.

Asian Paints Ltd rose 1.7 percent after the company said its June-quarter profit rose by 23 percent to 3.39 billion rupees.

Hindalco Industries Ltd gained 2.4 percent after aluminium prices hit a 16-month high.

Exide Industries Ltd jumped 4.5 percent after the industrial and automotive battery maker reported late on Monday that April-June earnings rose 17 percent to 1.85 billion rupees ($30.73 million), beating some analysts' estimates.

Indoco Remedies Ltd surged 18.7 percent after the company said on Monday that the U.S. drug regulator had approved the company's sterile and solid dosage manufacturing plants located in Goa, paving the way for its ophthalmic product launches in the United State.

However, among stocks that fell, Thermax Ltd plunged 8.4 percent, its biggest single-day fall since December 2008 after traders said lower margin in the energy segment weighed on its quarterly earnings.

(Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)