Mumbai: Extending the winning run to fourth consecutive session Wednesday, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by over 190 points to close at a three-week high of 28,707.75 mainly led by gains in RIL, Infosys and Coal India amid sustained foreign capital inflows.
The barometer has garnered 750.26 points in four-day gaining spree.
"The sentiments were optimistic after a RBI survey projected a higher economic growth rate for the country," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution at Religare Securities.
The Sensex opened higher at 28,601.49 and traded in a wide range of 28,763.06 to 28,566.61 before finishing at 28,707.75, showing a gain of 191.16 points of 0.67 percent.
The previous high was on March 17 when it ended at 28,736.38.
The 50-share NSE Nifty also rallied by 54.10 points or 0.62 percent to close at three-week high of 8,714.10. It had last ended at 8,723.30 on March 17.
"Though Nifty is gradually inching higher with every passing day but lack of participation from the banking space is still a major concern," Manglik added.
Among Sensex gainers, Coal India topped the list by climbing 5.73 percent on reports that the government has lifted the cap on company's e-auction sales.
Rate-sensitive banking, realty and capital goods shares were also back in the action after some banks cut their lending rates, brokers said.
Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 143.98 crore while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 326.06 crore yesterday as per provisional data.
Asian markets ended mixed today as key indices in Singapore and Taiwan fell in the range of 0.14 percent to 0.73 percent while those in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea rose between 0.60 percent and 3.80 percent.
European markets were also trading mixed as indices in France and the UK moved up by 0.16 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively, while Germany's DAX was down by 0.25 percent.
On domestic front, as many as 21 of the 30 Sensex stocks closed with gains, while nine closed lower.
Major gainers were Coal India at 5.73 percent, Reliance Industries 3.93 percent, Bharti Airtel 3.63 percent, TCS 2.25 percent, Dr Reddy's 2.10 percent, Gail India 2.06 percent, Infosys 1.83 percent, ITC 1.55 percent and Cipla 1.17 percent.
However, HDFC fell by 2.22 percent, followed by SSLT at 1.93 percent, ONGC 1.74 percent and Hero MotoCorp 1.32 percent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT rose by 1.98 percent followed by teck 1.74 percent, metal 1.62 percent, refinery 1.55 percent, FMCG 1.46 percent, consumer durable 1.15 percent and power 1.13 percent.
However, bankex was the only sectoral index to fall on the BSE today.
Smallcap and midcap indices rose by 1.79 percent and 0.65 percent, respectively on sustained buying by retail investors.
Market breadth also remained higher as 1,803 stocks ended in green, 992 finished in red while 121 ruled steady. Total equity turnover rose to Rs 3,631.62 crore from Rs 3,303.88 crore yesterday.
