Sensex, Nifty touch record high levels in early trade

Sensex, Nifty hit all-time highs on Monday due to FII inflows; Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Infosys, HUL, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement gain; ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, L&T, Titan lag; FPI investment in India at ₹30,660 crore in July; Asian markets mixed; Brent crude dips 0.86%.

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty hit their all-time high levels in early trade on July 17 amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in IT counters.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 128.6 points to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 66,189.50 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 47.65 points to reach its all-time intra-day high of 19,612.15.

From the Sensex pack, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers.

ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Titan were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth ₹2,636.43 crore, according to exchange data.

"In July, FPIs have invested ₹30,660 crore in India inclusive of bulk deals and investment through primary market. This reflects the increasing FPI confidence in the Indian economy and markets," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai were trading lower while Hong Kong quoted in the green.