Sensex surges 446 pts to end above 44,500; Nifty breaches 13,000-mark

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rallied to fresh lifetime highs on Tuesday following heavy buying in banking, financial, realty and auto counters amid persistent foreign capital inflows. After scaling a record intra-day high of 44,601.63, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 445.87 points or 1.01 per cent higher at a record 44,523.02. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 128.70 points or 1 per cent to close above the 13,000-mark for the first time at 13,055.15.