The benchmark BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 33,332.06 and the NSE index Nifty scaled a record peak of 10,383.80 with encouraging quarterly earnings sending out a positive signal among investors.

Positive Asian shares, buying by domestic institutional investors and F&O rollovers to November series also aided the uptrend.

Domestic sentiment was also buoyed as CLSA has increased the weightage on India in the firm's Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative return portfolio by two percentage points. Reaffirming an overweight stance on India, Goldman Sachs has raised its Nifty target to 11,600 by the end of 2018 from 10,900 by the September 2018 it had forecast earlier.

At 11.30 a.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 119.79 points or 0.36 per cent at 33,277.01 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 45.3 points or 0.44 per cent at 10,368.35.

Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas index was the star-performer and was up 1.37 per cent, followed by PSU 1.34 per cent, consumer durables 1.31 per cent and infrastructure 1.25 per cent. Only metal index was down 0.17 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were ONGC (+3.05%), ICICI Bank (+2.06%), Tata Motors (+1.8%), Maruti (+1.62%) and Bharti Airtel (+1.34%), while the major losers were Coal India (-1.29%), Tata Steel (-1.29%), ITC (-1.21%), Wipro (-0.99%) and Kotak Bank (-0.74%).

Stocks in focus

HDFC, Tata Steel, Lupin, Marico, IDFC, Wockhardt, Central Bank, Bharat Electronics, LIC Housing Finance, and EIH are some of the companies scheduled to announce quarterly results today.

Asian shares

Asian shares climbed on Monday and crude oil rose to a two-year top, while the euro loitered around a three-month low as the European Central Bank’s decision to extend its stimulus further fattened the dollar’s yield advantage.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia–Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2 per cent. The index is up 3.4 per cent so far this month. Japan’s Nikkei nudged 0.2 per cent higher, while Seoul shares climbed 0.7 per cent.

US stocks had settled higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.33 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 23,434.19, the S&P500 index gained 20.67.22 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 2,581.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 144.49 points, or 2.20 per cent, to 6,701.26.