Sensex Ends At A Fresh Record High; ITC Surges

Benchmark indices surged in trade to close at a new all time record, as heavyweights ITC and Reliance led the rally.

The Sensex ended the day with gains of 352 points, while the Nifty rallied 111 points in trade.

ITC shares surged 5 per cent, after most brokerages maintained an "outperform" on the stock. The company managed to report a 10 per cent increase in net profits, largely on the back of a good performance in agro.

Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank also reported a sharp increase in their share price, ahead of their results to be declared later today.

Dr Reddy's, TCS and HUL had a very subdued session and ended the day lower. Shares of Hindalco was higher after company said its US subsidiary Novelis will buy rival aluminium products company Aleris for USD 2.58 billion.

Shares of Westlife rose as much 10 percent, after the company swung back into profits. Shares of Yes Bank dropped, after its provisioning for the quarter saw a rise.

Overseas, Asian stocks ended higher, following a mixed session on Wall Street, led by Japan"s Nikkei 225. US stocks ended mostly lower in overnight trade, dragged by sharp decline in Facebook Inc's shares after the social network's revenue and user growth missed estimates.

On the IPO front, shares of HDFC Mutual Fund (MF) was fully subscribed 5.5 times on day two as the company received bids for 103 million shares as against 18.8 million on offer.

Meanwhile, the rupee was last trading at 68.60 to the dollar.