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Benchmark shares indices hit fresh record highs in late noon trades with the Nifty topping 8,100 on Tuesday after upbeat first quarter GDP and narrowing current account deficit boosted sentiment. Further, Cipla was the top Sensex gainer after it launched an anti-asthma inhaler in Germany and Sweden that is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Advair.
At 2:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 185 points at 27,053 after hitting a record 27,082.85 and the 50-share Nifty was up 66 points at 8,093 after hitting a record high of 8,101.95.
India’s current account deficit (CAD) for this financial year’s first quarter, April to June, narrowed sharply to 1.7 per cent of gross domestic product ($7.8 billion) from 4.8 per cent of GDP ($21.8 bn) in the corresponding period of 2013-14.
Further, India's balance-of-payments remained in surplus for the third straight at $11.2 billion for Apr-June 2014.
The Indian rupee was trading flat at $60.53 against the previous close of $60.52 tracking weakness in Asian currencies.
Asian markets gained on Tuesday with Nikkei and Shanghai Composite rising the most. Japanese shares firmed up to end 1.2% higher at 15,668.50 while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.3% at 2,266. Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.4% and Hang Seng was trading flat with negative bias.
European edged higher in early trades on Tuesday ahead of key economic data in the euro zone. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were up 0.2-0.9% each.
All the sectoral indices except for Metal were trading in the green. The BSE Healthcare index was the top gainer up 1.9% followed by Consumer Durables, Bankex, FMCG, Capital Goods and Auto indices among others.
Cipla was the top Sensex gainer up over 6%, after hitting a record high of Rs 575, after the pharmaceutical firm launched an anti-asthma inhaler in Germany and Sweden that is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Advair. It's peer Sun Pharma was up 2.6% while Dr Reddy's Labs was trading with marginal gains.
HDFC Group shares, mortgage lender HDFC and private banking major HDFC Bank were up over 1.5% each contributing the most to the Sensex gains. SBI and Axis Bank were up 0.8% each.
Bharti Airtel extended gains after its arm Airtel Networks Kenya Limited (Airtel Kenya), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel International Netherlands BV has signed a definitive agreement with Essar Telecommunications Kenya Limited, which operates under the brand name yuMobile to acquire its over 2.7 million subscribers.
Hero MotoCorp was up 2% after hitting a record high of Rs 2,819 as the company late Monday reported 21% rise in its total sales during August 2014 at 5,58,609 units.
Other Sensex gainers include index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Ind were up 0.3-1% each.
Among other shares, SPML Infra has locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 65 on National Stock Exchange after the company said it has won new orders worth Rs 1,232 crore from Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, Agra and Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam, Gandhinagar.
GMR Infrastructure has gained 2% to Rs 26 on the BSE after the firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japanese Bank for international cooperation (JBIC) for financial assistance.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.8% and the Small-cap index was up 1%.
Market breadth was strong with 1,733 gainers and 1,152 losers on the BSE.
