Nifty sprints to life-time high on budget optimism; up 1.18%

The benchmark Nifty conquered milestone of 7,700 mark to reach its highest ever closing peak as rising optimism over budget and global buoyancy triggered a buying frenzy today.
Buying, particularly in FMCG, energy, financials, auto, metal and infra sectors, sustained the bullish momentum.
It sent the bellwether index Nifty surging by a whopping 90.45 points, or 1.18 per cent to close at 7,725.15 after hitting an all-time intra-day high of 7,732.40 in early trade.
Expectations of positive reforms in the Union budget, which is due next week, to curb ballooning trade deficit and accelerate growth and strong measures to boost infrastructure spending bolstered investors' sentiment.

A stronger rupee and the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that the government would take bold decisions in the budget also weighed in.
Taking a strong lead from a record close on Wall Street, trading resumed on a buoyant note and maintained its rallying momentum throughout the session as investors kept lapping up stocks at every levels.

Investors were unfazed by Iraq developments for the day, a trader commented.
Global financial markets also remained supportive and rallied to fresh multi-week highs after upbeat manufacturing data across major economies expanded at a strongest pace.
Among blue-chips, Sesa Sterlite jumped 4.69 pct, NTPC 3.23 pct, BHEL 2.87 pct, Lupin 2.71 pct, Coal India 2.48 pct, United Spirits 2.30 pct, Sun Pharma 2.29 pct, BPCL 2.27 pct, Maruti 2.23 pct and M&M 2.12 pct.

However, HCL-Tech, Infosys, PNB, Gail, TechM and Asian paints were seen bucking the trend.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 19,477.25 crore from Rs 16,601.08 crore yesterday. A total of 11,494.14 lakh shares changed hands in 78,86,278 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 89,99,426 crore.