Sensex, Nifty hit record highs; Bharti Airtel surges

By Tanvi Mehta

REUTERS - Indian shares rose around 1 percent to fresh highs on Wednesday, tracking a rally in broader Asia on the back of solid economic growth globally, while Bharti Airtel Ltd jumped after posting better-than-expected results.

The benchmark BSE index has surged 6.2 percent in October, its biggest monthly gain in more than a year.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched a 10-year high after data showed economic growth accelerated in South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

A World Bank report which said India jumped 30 spots to the 100th position in the ranking of countries in terms of Ease of Doing Business raised hopes of continued foreign direct investment inflows into the country.

"It's a combination of liquidity, global markets plus the ease of business report which is playing out," said Gautam Duggad, head of research - institutional equities, Motilal Oswal.

The broader NSE index was up 0.93 percent at 10,431 as of 0610 GMT. It earlier rose as much as 1 percent, breaching the 10,400 level for the first time ever.

The benchmark BSE index was trading 1.12 percent higher at 33,585.29 after earlier touching a record high of 33,603.93.

State-run lenders recovered from Tuesday's fall. The Nifty PSU bank index, which has climbed 24 percent in October, was up 3 percent.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel jumped as much as 4.1 percent to hit its highest level in a decade after quarterly profit beat estimates and at least two brokerages raised target price on the stock.

JSW Steel Ltd rose 3.3 percent and InterGlobe Aviation Ltd gained 4.1 percent after reporting strong results.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)