Markets soared to record highs on widespread buying spurred by forecast of a normal monsoon amid positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex touched an all-time high of 30,207.13, while the broader NSE Nifty scaled to 9,391.55.

The benchmark surpassed its previous peak of 30,184.22 (intra-day) recorded on April 27 and the Nifty surpassed (intra-day) high of 9,377.10 reached on May 5.

At 12.10 pm local time, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 226.03 points or 0.76 per cent at 30,159.28 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 61.85 points or 0.66 per cent at 9,378.70.

Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG index gained the most by 1.61 per cent, followed by healthcare 1.12 per cent, auto 1.02 per cent and capital goods 0.84 per cent. On the other hand, IT index was down 0.6 per cent, realty 0.57 per cent, and TECk 0.09 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were HUL (+3.85%), Bharti Airtel (+3.53%), HDFC (+2.33%), M&M (+2.11%) and Cipla (+1.55%), while the major losers were TCS (-1.29%), Wipro (-1.22%), Infosys (-0.61%), Asian Paints (-0.36%) and GAIL (-0.24%).

According to brokers, domestic sentiment was buoyed after data showed that foreign funds, which were net sellers on the Indian bourses for the past few sessions, made fresh purchases in yesterday’s trade.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had yesterday said the monsoon this year could be ‘normal’ and bring 100 per cent rainfall instead of 96 per cent it predicted earlier, which is expected to give a booster dose to the rural economy.

Asian stocks edged higher for a third consecutive day on Wednesday as investors focused on strong corporate earnings and the dollar gave back some of its recent gains after a rise in political tensions.

MSCI's Asia ex Japan index was flat after posting modest gains in the previous session. It hit a two-year high last week.