MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex continued its upward march for the ninth consecutive day as it climbed up by 98.52 points and crossed the 12,600 mark while closing at a record high of 12,612.38 points.
Earlier, the 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange had touched a new high of 12,624.37 points in the morning session after crossing the 12,600 mark.
The Sensex closed almost 100 points up on back of good gains, primarily in oil and gas, banking and metal scrips.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) closed at an all-time high of Rs 1,170.10 with a gain of Rs 15.15 or 1.31 per cent and touched Rs 1,195 in the intra-day trading.
RIL gains were on the eve of Reliance Petroleum Limited's (RPL) listing on stock markets, where RIL has majority stake and could trade around Rs 100 per share, as against the issue price of Rs 60 per share for Rs 10 share, according to some brokers.
ONGC was up by 3.10 per cent to Rs 1,484.45 with a gain of Rs 44.60. Earlier, it touched a lifetime high of Rs 1,514 in the intra-day trade.
SBI on Wednesday also crossed Rs 1,000 mark for the first time, touching a high of Rs 1,007.40 and finally closing at Rs 1,001.25, with a gain of 2.69 per cent.
ICICI Bank, too, closed up by 3.47 per cent to Rs 661.30 with a gain of Rs 23.90. HDFC Bank gained by 1.71 per cent to Rs 869.35. Metal blue chip Hindalco was the top gainer on the Sensex at Rs 239.20, up by 4.29 per cent. Tata Steel gained 1.21 per cent to Rs 667.85.
Earlier, the Sensex after opening 32 points up at 12,546 points as compared to the last close of 12,514 points, soon crossed the 12,600 mark for the first time in its history.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty index also closed at new all-time high of 33 points up at 3,754 points. Among the sectoral indices, BSE Bankex index was up by 2.49 per cent, metal index was up by 2.21 per cent and oil and gas index was up by 1.79 per cent and public sector undertaking index was up by 1.58 per cent.
The smallcap and midcap indices closed with 1.48 and 0.81 per cent gains, respectively. Others among the top Sensex gainers were - Tata Power, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Auto.
Cement stocks saw profit booking with Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Grasim Industries and ACC losing more than two per cent of the share price.
