MUMBAI: Equity benchmark indices started the trade on an optimistic note on Wednesday, with the Sensex breaching the historic 80,000-mark for the first time ever and the Nifty hitting its fresh lifetime high, amid heavy buying in bank stocks and firm global market trends.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 597.77 points to hit a new lifetime high of 80,039.22. The Nifty climbed 168.3 points to hit a fresh record peak of 24,292.15.
Among the Sensex pack, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and Nestle were the biggest gainers.
Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma, Infosys and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory while Shanghai quoted lower.
US markets ended higher on Tuesday.
The BSE benchmark declined 34.74 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 79,441.45 in a volatile trade on Tuesday. During the day, it jumped 379.68 points or 0.47 per cent to hit a record peak of 79,855.87.
The Nifty declined by 18.10 points or 0.07 per cent to 24,123.85. Intra-day, it climbed 94.4 points or 0.39 per cent to hit a lifetime high of 24,236.35.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.56 per cent to USD 86.72 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,000.12 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.