Rising for the third back-to-back session, the Sensex moved up another 77 points today with interest-sensitive stocks gaining the most as investors raised bets on RBI's policy decision amid firm global cues.
The rupee's good run against the dollar too lifted the overall mood.
The 30-share index rose 77.17 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 26,469.935, with sectoral indices - auto, realty, banking, oil & gas and power -- trading in the positive zone with a gain of up to 0.72 per cent.
The gauge had rallied 162.10 points in the previous two sessions.
The NSE Nifty too added 27.55 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 8,170.70.
Brokers said sentiments remained upbeat as investors prepared for fresh bets in anticipation of a RBI rate cut. The RBI policy meet, scheduled for later in the day, will be the first after demonetisation.
Major gainers were SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Power Grid, Lupin, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, L&T and Maruti Suzuki.
Among the Asian bourses, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.32 per cent while Japan's Nikkei went up 0.40 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.10 per cent in early trade today.
In yesterday's trade, The US Dow Jones Industrial Average made a record close by rising 0.18 per cent.
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