Sensex hits record highs; Tata Steel scales over 2-1/2 year peak

By Krishna V Kurup

REUTERS - Indian shares hit record highs on Friday, with Reliance Industries and Tata Steel Ltd leading the gains, as higher derivatives rollover led to strong follow-up buying in index heavyweights.

The broader NSE Nifty rose as much as 0.65 percent to a record high of 9,572.25, while the benchmark BSE Sensex gained as much as 0.73 percent, also touching a life-high of 30,975.52.

"Most of the movement on the indexes since Thursday is due to broad index-level buying in the markets because of the F&O expiry," said Tirthankar Patnaik, chief strategist and head of research, India at Mizuho Bank.

"On Thursday, major shorts were covered and longs have been rolled, so there is follow-up buying in today's session. Nifty saw 75 percent rollover yesterday," said Miraj Vora, derivative analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd.

A higher rollover is typically a bullish sign and means investors expect gains to continue.

Reliance Industries Ltd gained as much as 3.22 percent, while Tata Steel Ltd gained as much as 5.6 percent to 511.90 rupees, its highest since September 2014.

Consumer firm ITC Ltd , which is slated to report March quarter results later in the day, gained as much as 1.55 percent.

Meanwhile, downstream oil companies lost some ground.

"There is some profit-booking in downstream oil companies," Patnaik said.

Indian Oil Corp Ltd slipped for the first time in three sessions, falling as much as 5.2 percent, while Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd lost as much as 3.3 percent and looked set to snap three sessions of gains.

Pharma company Cipla Ltd dropped to an eleven-month low after posting a quarterly loss against analysts' expectations.

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)