The BSE Sensex breached the 80000 level intraday for the first time, while the Nifty raced more than 162 points to close at a fresh lifetime high on Wednesday following heavy buying in banking and FMCG shares amid firm global market trends.

Investors are upbeat on the financials of banks, especially after an RBI study said that bad loans in the system have fallen to a 12-year low.

Since the general election results were declared on June 4, the Nifty Bank index has risen more than 13 per cent.

Analysts said there could be more steam left in the banking stocks going by the demand for some of these scrips especially in the private sector.

Earlier in the day, the 30-share Sensex crossed 80000 for the first time as it surged 632.85 points to hit an all-time intraday high of 80074.30.

The index later closed near the 80000-level at 79986.80, up 545.35 points, or 0.69 per cent, over the last close. As many as 24 Sensex shares closed with gains. The Sensex had breached the 78000 level on June 25 and 79000 on June 27.

On the NSE, the Nifty climbed 162.65 points to close at an all-time high of 24286.50. During the day, it rose 183.4 points to hit a fresh intra-day peak of 24307.25. As many as 40 Nifty shares closed in the higher territory.

Though Adani Ports led the list of gainers, advancing 2.49 per cent, it was the banking stocks that generated buying interest.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, for instance, reversed its losses seen on Tuesday and was up 2.37 per cent.

HDFC Bank hogged the limelight on expectations of more FPI inflows as investors expect its weightage in the MSCI index to jump next month.

While it now holds a weightage of 3.89 per cent, the August review is expected to see it increase to 7.2-7.5 per cent.

Analysts feel this could lead to passive inflows of $3 billion into the stock.

Shares of the private sector lender, which has already gone up over the past few weeks from value buying, closed with gains of 2.18 per cent on Wednesday.

The other counters that ended in the green included ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Power Grid, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro fell up to 1.27 per cent.

“The private banking and banking sectors showed significant gains, with reasonable valuations indicating sustainable returns. Additionally, power-related stocks such as REC and PFC performed well, as India is expected to accelerate capacity expansion in the sector,’’ Naveen Kulkarni, chief investment officer at Axis Securities PMS, said.

“Strong institutional flows continue to support the market’s upward trend, suggesting sustained returns in the long term. However, the focus will likely shift to the upcoming budget and earnings reports next week, which may lead to short-term market consolidation,’’ he said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap index rose 0.86 per cent and the smallcap index gained 0.86 per cent. The Bankex gained 1.75 per cent and financial services jumped 1.55 per cent.

Telecommunication (1.44 per cent), services (1.18 per cent), industrials (1.09 per cent) and FMCG (0.81 per cent) were also among gainers.

Investors will now be focussing on the minutes of the meeting of the US Federal Open Market Committee to be released later in the day.