Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex today scaled a new peak of 33,853.63 as its record-setting spree continues for the third day on the back of a rally in infrastructure, IT, capital goods and banking stocks. The broader Nifty gained 33.95 points, or 0.32 percent, to trade at 10,485.75, approaching towards its life-time high of 10,490.45 points (intra-day) touched yesterday.   

Fresh inflows by foreign funds and positive global leads also lifted the mood, brokers said. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 576.27 crore yesterday, the provisional exchange data showed. The 30-share Sensex climbed 122.44 points, or 0.36 percent, to scale a new high of 33,853.63, breaching its previous intra-day record of 33,848.42 hit yesterday.   

The gauge had gained 157.97 points in the previous two sessions and closed at record high of 33,731.19 yesterday. Except for consumer durables, all the sectoral indices, led by infrastructure, IT, banking and realty were trading in the positive territory, with gains of up to 1.01 percent.   

Brokers said investor sentiments remained upbeat on the back of better-than-expected Q2 earnings numbers posted by most of the bluechip companies so far and a firming trend in other Asian markets. The US markets scored fresh records for a second day yesterday.   

Major gainers which supported the Sensex rally were ONGC, TCS, Sun Pharma, Infosys, M&M, Kotak Bank, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Ltd, Cipla, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Lupin, HDFC Bank, SBI, and NTPC. Globally, among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.22 percent while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.82 percent in their late morning deals. Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.66 percent.  The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at the record by gaining 0.04 percent yesterday. PTI