Sensex hits 38,000 for first time, Nifty tops 11,495 mark

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex hit the 38,000 level for the first time on Thursday on widespread buying in banking, energy and PSU stocks amid unabated inflows by domestic and foreign institutional investors.

The broader NSE Nifty too touched a new peak of 11,495.20.

The 30-share Sensex climbed 162.56 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 38,050,12 in early trade on Thursday, breaching its previous intra-day record of 37,931.42 hit on Wednesday.

Strong gains in banking, oil and gas, PSU, realty, healthcare, IT, teck, metal, infrastructure, capital goods, FMCG, power and auto stocks spurred the index higher.

The NSE Nifty spurted 45.20 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 11,495.20, surpassing its previous (intra-day) record of 11,459.95 hit on Wednesday.

Analysts said strong liquidity in the market following unabated buying by foreign as well as domestic institutional investors and encouraging Q1 earnings bolstered sentiment.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 568.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 30.25 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Asian shares were mixed in early trade amid rising trade tensions between the US and China.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.89 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.83 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.27 per cent in early deals.

US stock market indices closed mostly lower on Wednesy as investors grappled with a fresh round of tariff clashes between the Trump administration and China.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.18 per cent lower on Wednesday.