Nifty touches new record, Sensex trails

Strong global cues propelled the Indian stock market upward but it failed to hold on to its gains, slipping at the end of the trading session.

The Nifty hit an all-time high of 6,042.10 points mid-session while the 30-stock index lagged behind because stocks like Reliance Communications (up 2.10 per cent to Rs 734.25 a share), DRL (up 0.89 per cent to Rs 670.85 a share) and HCL Technologies (up 2.46 per cent to Rs 319.15 a share) have been excluded from the Sensex.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark index closed at 19,966 points, up 170.13 points or 0.86 per cent. Broad-based Nifty closed at 5,974.30 points, up 19.6 points or 0.33 per cent.

US markets surged on Thursday on optimism that a plan announced by President George W Bush to stem US home foreclosures would keep the economy from sliding into a recession.

Barring South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 0.14 per cent), key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan were up 0.64 per cent to 1.78 per cent.

The BSE IT index (up 3.69 per cent to 4,424.57 points) was the top gainer today with bellwether Infosys Technologies (up 5.09 per cent to Rs 1,718.15 a share) back in the limelight. Insurance companies bought into frontline IT stocks.