Sensex, Nifty hit fresh record highs

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty hit their fresh record high levels during the morning trade on Wednesday, driven by buying in blue-chip stocks HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank and fresh foreign fund inflows.

Recovering all the early lost ground, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 230.66 points to scale a new all-time peak of 83,310.32 during the morning trade.

The NSE Nifty also advanced 60.05 points to hit a fresh lifetime high of 25,478.60.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle, ITC and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers.

Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai traded higher.

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

"The significance of the Fed rate decision expected tonight is evident from the wait and watch market mood across the globe yesterday.

"Perhaps more important than the Fed action would be the Fed commentary and the message," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 482.69 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.71 per cent to $73.18 a barrel.