Sensex rises 248 points to close at lifetime high; Nifty above 18,400

After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 248.84 points or 0.40% to settle at 61,872.99

Market benchmark Sensex climbed 248 points to close at its all-time high of 61,872 on November 15, propped up by robust fag-end buying in banking and energy stocks amid a positive trend in global equities.

A strengthening rupee, encouraging domestic inflation data and unabated foreign capital inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 248.84 points or 0.40% to settle at 61,872.99—surpassing its previous closing peak of 61,795.04 on November 11. During the day, the index witnessed a high of 61,955.96—its 52-week intraday high—and a low of 61,436.90.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 74.25 points or 0.41% to finish at 18,403.40.

"Following gains in global equities, early losses in the domestic market were reversed, with banking stocks steering the recovery. Food and commodity price declines have helped to keep domestic inflation below 7%

"Although the CPI has continued to remain above the RBI's tolerance limit of 6 per cent, it is estimated that it will begin to fall within the range from Q1 FY24," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

PowerGrid topped the Sensex gainers' chart, rising 2.20%, followed by ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, SBI, Dr Reddy's, Titan, M&M and HDFC Twins.