MUMBAI: The BSE benchmark Sensex hit the historic 76,000-mark for the first time on Monday and the NSE Nifty hit its new all-time peak in tandem with a rally in global markets and optimistic investors’ sentiment days ahead of the results of the Lok Sabha polls announcement. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 599.29 points to an all-time peak of 76,009.68 during the afternoon trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 153.7 points to hit a new lifetime high of 23,110.80. From the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank were among the major gainers. Wipro, NTPC, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory. Wall Street ended with gains on Friday. The results of the ongoing general elections will be declared on June 4. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.13 per cent to USD 82.23 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 944.83 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. On Friday, the BSE benchmark dipped 7.65 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 75,410.39. The Nifty breached the 23,000 mark for the first time on Friday. It, however, pared all the gains and ended with a marginal decline of 10.55 points or 0.05 per cent at 22,957.10.
