Sensex breaches 38,000-mark for the first time ever; Nifty climbs 45.20 pts

The equity benchmark has started the day on a strong note with Sensex, Nifty, BankNifty opening at record highs. Sensex breached the massive 38,000-pt mark for the first time ever, while Nifty is trading at around 11,500. At 38,005.03, Sensex is up 117.47 points and Nifty has risen 27.70 points at 11,477.70 pts. 671 shares have advanced, 348 shares declined, and 61 shares are unchanged.

With maximum gain seen in metal. energy and PSU banks, all the sectors are trading in green. 

In the morning trade, HPCL, BPCL, IOC, Axis Bank, SBI, Hindalco, Vedanta, Selan Exploration are the gainers, while Lupin, Dr Reddy's Lab, Titan, Ashok Leyland, NMDC are on the losing side.

On Thursday, Indian rupee opened higher by 14 paise at 68.48 per dollar against previous close 68.62.

Yesterday's benchmarks ended at fresh lifetime highs, powered by a rally in market heavyweight RIL and banking stocks amid mixed global cues.

The BSE Sensex vaulted 221.76 points to close at 37,887.56, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 60.55 points to finish above the 11,400-mark for the first time.

RIL, SBI, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Yes Bank and HDFC Bank were among the major gainers.

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The Nifty Bank index also breached the 28,000 level for the first time.

Sustained FII inflows and fresh spell of buying by domestic institutional investors propped up the bourses, brokers said.

Encouraging first quarter earnings and mixed trend in global markets, with US stocks approaching fresh all-time highs, too bolstered sentiment, they added.