The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading higher by over 400 points and the NSE index Nifty close to 10,300 level as the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, had yesterday announced a massive Rs 6.92 lakh crore for infrastructure spending and another Rs 2.11 lakh crore for bank recapitalisation to revive investments and growth.

Amidst concerns over growth slowdown, the government has announced plans for bank capitalisation to boost the economy, spur investments and create jobs, as well as a highway construction project.

Stressing that the macro fundamentals of the economy are strong, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the ₹5.35 lakh crore BharatMala Pariyojana to construct 34,800 km of highways and an aggressive ₹2.11 lakh crore capitalisation plan for public sector banks.

At 1.55 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was trading higher by 431.71 points or 1.32 per cent at 33,039.05 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was trading up by 84.9 points or 0.83 per cent at 10,292.60.

Among BSE sectoral indices, PSU index was the star-performer and was up 7.55 per cent, followed by banking 4.6 per cent, capital goods 3.63 per cent and infrastructure 1.9 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index fell 1.52 per cent, realty 0.95 per cent and healthcare 0.79 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were State Bank of India (+26.44%), ICICI Bank (+14.71%), L&T (+6.06%), Axis Bank (+5.08%) and Tata Motors (+1.49%), while the major losers were Kotak Bank (-4.94%), HDFC Bank (-3.82%), HDFC (-2.43%), Lupin (-2.4%) and Sun Pharma (-1.83%).

Early trade

The benchmark BSE Sensex rallied nearly 500 points to a life-time high of 33,117.33 and the NSE Nifty scaled the historic 10,340.55 mark in the opening trade as the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, had yesterday announced a massive Rs 6.92 lakh crore for infrastructure spending and another Rs 2.11 lakh crore for bank recapitalisation to revive investments and growth.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex soared 509.99 points or 1.56 per cent to quote at an all-time high of 33,117.33 points, breaching its previous record high (intra-day) of 32,699.86 hit on October 17. The gauge had gained 224.41 points in the previous two straight sessions.

The 50-share NSE index Nifty also hit a historic high of 10,340.55 by climbing 132.85 points or 1.30 per cent. It also breached the previous record (intraday) of 10,251.85 points reached on October 17.

Asian shares trod water in early trade on Wednesday, while US Treasury yields and the dollar got a lift following a report Republican senators were leaning towards John Taylor to be the next Federal Reserve chief.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade.