The benchmark Nifty closed above the 9,300-mark for the first time in its history yesterday, while the Sensex soared 287 points to a three-week high on widespread buying, spurred by strong results and upbeat global cues.
The 50-share Nifty rallied 88.65 points, or 0.96%, to reach its new lifetime closing high of 9,306.60, surpassing the previous record close of 9,265.15 on April 5.
Intra-day, it surged to 9,309.20, breaking its previous intra-day record of 9,273.90 reached on April 5. The BSE 30-share Sensex surged 287 points to end at a three-week high of 29,943.24, after shuttling between 29,961.82 and 29,780.84. The gauge had gained 290.54 points on Monday.
This is the highest closing for Sensex since April 5, when it had ended on 29,974.24. Brokers said a string of strong quarterly earnings, including from index heavyweight RIL, and appreciating rupee accelerated buying activity. The rupee ended at 64.27 against the dollar, up 18 paise. Asian shares ended higher following a relief rally in global equities after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election.
“Earnings from both private as well as public sector have shown encouraging signs, lifting banking stocks, while Nifty’s surge to 9,300 gave added vigour to market. Government’s push in the infra and affordable housing space has also kept housing, cement and realty stocks buzzing,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Meanwhile, domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs984.17 crore yesterday, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold stocks worth a net Rs279.55 crore, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Shares of Reliance Industries rose 1.14% after the company yesterday posted a record fourth quarter net profit of Rs 8,046 crore.
Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, telecom rose 2.62%, FMCG 1.67%, realty 1.26%, oil and gas 1.23%, energy 1.20%, finance 1.18%, auto 1.15% and bankex 1.03%. Broader markets too were in a better shape, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 1.06% and the small-cap index gaining 0.58%.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,467 stocks ended higher, 1,444 closed lower while 169 ruled steady. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4,006.89 crore, lower than Rs 4,360.76 crore registered during the previous trading session.
Meanwhile the rupee yesterday closed over fresh 20-month high against the US dollar after local equity markets gained over 280 points. The rupee closed at 64.2750 a dollar — a level last seen on August 11, 2015, up 0.25% from its Monday’s close of 64.44. The rupee opened at 64.41 a dollar and touched a high of 64.21, a level last seen on April 7.
Global markets gained in the wake of French elections. Emmanuel Macron advanced as the favourite in the presidential runoff, easing concerns that France will leave the euro currency bloc. With anxiety over the French elections fading, traders may also be showing relief in the absence of provocations from North Korea and signs of stability in Chinese markets, Bloomberg reported.
Traders are cautious before President Donald Trump releases a tax reform plan Wednesday aimed at spurring growth in the US economy.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.5%, while foreign investors bought $6.52bn and $7.17bn in local equity and debt markets, respectively. 
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.937% compared to its previous close of 6.942%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Asian currencies were trading higher. Malaysian ringgit was up 0.64%, Taiwan dollar 0.46%, South Korean won 0.41%, Indonesian rupiah 0.2%, Philippines peso 0.18%. However, Japanese yen was down 0.61%, Thai Baht 0.11%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 99.048, down 0.04% from its previous close of 99.092.