Equity indices ticked higher to fresh lifetime peaks for the third straight session on Monday, riding on robust gains in Reliance Industries and IT stocks amid a firm trend overseas.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 166.96 points or 0.29 per cent to its new closing record of 58296.91. It touched an all-time high of 58515.85 during the session.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 54.20 points or 0.31 per cent to its fresh lifetime peak of 17377.80. During the session, it touched a record 17429.55.

The benchmark 10-year bond ended marginally higher on Monday at 6.17 per cent against 6.16 per cent on Friday. Bond yields have been ruling at around 6.2 per cent levels for the whole of last month, but has lately dropped off a bit at 6.1-per-cent levels.

The rupee on Monday declined by 8 paise to close at 73.10 against the US currency mainly due to the dollar's gains in the global markets.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened flat at 73.02 but later lost ground to touch a low of 73.11 in the day trade. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 73.02 against the US dollar.

Reliance gains

Shares of Reliance Industries continued to move higher on Monday and closed with a gain of nearly 2 per cent after the company said its subsidiary has acquired a majority stake in genomic testing firm Strand Life Sciences for Rs 393 crore.

The stock jumped 3.83 per cent to its all-time high of Rs 2,479.85 during the day on the BSE. It closed at Rs 2,424.55, a jump of 1.52 per cent. On the NSE, it gained 1.69 per cent to close at Rs 2,429.

“Positive global markets and strong support from IT and realty stocks, aided domestic markets to trade modestly higher. Hopes of continued economic support by the Fed Reserve due to weak US job data and talks of more stimulus in Japan and China boosted global markets,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Milind Muchhala, executive director, Julius Baer, said: “The broader markets seem to be witnessing some signs of exhaustion after the healthy rally seen in the past month where India was the best performing market with gains of around 9 per cent.”

“In fact, a small correction would be welcome at this juncture and help the markets to become healthier,” he said.