Sensex makes lifetime jump to cross 60,000 mark, Nifty sets new high

Mumbai: For the first time the Indian equity indices are seen crossing the threshold to set new highs mainly due to people going berserk buying stocks of Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies and Larsen & Toubro in the weekend trade today.

While the S&P BSE Sensex crossed the 60,000 mark rising as much as 427 points to hit a record lifetime high of 60,312.51 for the first time while the Nifty 50 index touched an all-time high of 17,947 in the morning trade.

The major surge in the stocks is mainly attributed to the government's positive outlook of the economy released yesterday with a note that the economy is fast recovering. Experts also view India's prospect as an attractive destination for global investments along with China as one of the reasons the market turned a green pasture for domestic investors.

Back home, nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Information Technology index's 2.5 per cent gain of Wipro being the top gainer with a 2.85 per cent rise to hit an intraday high of Rs 693.50.

Nifty Bank, Pharma, Financial Services and Private Bank indices were also trading higher.

Overnight, world stock markets rallied and the U.S. dollar retreated from one-month highs as worries faded about contagion from China Evergrande and as investors digested the Federal Reserve's plans for reining in US stimulus.