India's Nifty rises to all-time high; Sensex above 32,600

India's benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices on Monday hits an all-time high after better-than-expected macroeconomic data boosted investor confidence.

sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

India's benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices on Monday hit an all-time high after better-than-expected macroeconomic data boosted investor confidence.

At 0600 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.29 percent at 32,526 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.32 percent to 10,199. Sensex touched a record high of 32,687.32 points while 50-stock Nifty index touched its life-time high of 10,242.95 earlier in the session.

India's merchandise exports grew 25.7 percent, the fastest pace in six months in September to $28.60 billion, helping cut the trade deficit to a seven-month low to $8.90 billion.

Among the top Sensex gainers: Bharti Airtel rose 2 percent, Mahindra and Mahindra added 1.9 percent, Hindustan Unilever gained 1.8 percent while Cipla advanced 1.7 percent.

Reliance Industries rose 1.2 percent after the company on Friday reported a 12.5 percent increase in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September.

Bharat Financial Inclusion gained 2.7 percent after the board of IndusInd Bank approved the merger between the bank and microfinance firm Bharat Financial Inclusion.

Avenue Supermarts rose 2 percent after the company posted a whopping 65.2 percent increase year on year in profit after tax for the quarter ended September.

Visa Steel jumped 15 percent after the central bank raised foreign investment limit in the company to 74 percent.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

Stocks in Asia rose after U.S. inflation data underpinned optimism that the global growth is continuing at a steady pace.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained for a fifth day running to its highest level since late 2007.

Underlying inflation in the United States was muted at 0.2 percent in August, data showed on Friday.

READ MORE