Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex climbed to a new record high of 23,332.90 in opening trade on Monday, as fund investors indulged in creating positions ahead of the exit poll results amid a firming trend in the Asian markets. The 30-share index, which had posted biggest single-day gain of 650.19 points on Friday since September 2013, rallied by another 338.67 points, or 1.47 per cent, to trade at fresh record high of 23,332.90 points.
All the sectoral indices were trading in the positive territory with gains of up to 2.70 per cent. The wide-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange breached the psychological 6,900 mark for the first time to scale a new peak of 6,952.40 by gaining 93.60 points, or 1.36 per cent.
Brokers said the trading sentiment remained extremely bullish on continued widespread buying by funds and retail investors ahead of the exit poll results after market hours today. "Expectations of a stable government to be formed after the Lok Sabha elections, triggered all-round buying activity," said Manoj Choraria, a Delhi-based stock broker.
They said the rally was led by stocks of banking, oil and gas, capital goods, realty, power and metal sectors. Among Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 0.45 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei moved up by 0.21 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.20 per cent higher on Friday.
