Markets near new highs; Sensex up 222pts

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 116 points at 20,323, and soon rallied to a high of 20,484 - just 14 points shy of a new peak.

The index is now up 222 points at 20,429.

The NSE Nifty hit a high of 6168 - just 17 points short of its all-time high of 6185. The index isnow up 66 points at 6146.