Sensex, Nifty hit fresh all-time high levels again

• Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries were some of the major gainers.
• Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Axis Bank were among the laggards in morning trade.
• Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong quoted in the positive territory.

Benchmark equity indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, hit their fresh all-time high levels in early trade on Wednesday amid a firm trend in global markets along with buying in stocks of IT companies and Reliance Industries. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 475.88 points to 71,913.07 -- its all-time peak -- in early trade. The Nifty climbed 138.8 points to reach its record high of 21,591.90.

Among the Sensex firms, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, NTPC and HDFC Bank were the major gainers.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Axis Bank and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong quoted in the positive territory while Shanghai traded lower.

The US markets ended in the green on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.10% to USD 79.15 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 601.52 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

"Despite concerns such as a spike in oil prices and FIIs selling shares, Dalal Street maintains its optimism for fresh highs. Positive catalysts include gains in Dow Jones and Nasdaq, a weakened US dollar, lower US treasury bond yields, and the ongoing Fed rate cut bets," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The BSE benchmark climbed 122.10 points or 0.17% to settle at 71,437.19 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 34.45 points or 0.16% to 21,453.10.