Equity benchmark Sensex skyrocketed 873 points to a fresh closing peak while the Nifty finished above the 16,000-mark for the first time on Tuesday, driven by gains in index heavyweights HDFC, Infosys and TCS.

The 30-share BSE index ended 872.73 points or 1.65 per cent higher at its lifetime high of 53,823.36. The broader NSE Nifty rallied 245.60 points or 1.55 per cent to record 16,130.75.

Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by HDFC, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement and Bharti Airtel.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel and NTPC were the laggards.

"Bulls pulled off the 16,000 mark on the Nifty effortlessly buoyed by positive news flow on GST and export data as domestic fund houses poured Rs 280 billion during the first four months of the current fiscal," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

The journey past 16,000 quite clearly has been led by the retail investors who have allocated more into equities even as FIIs sold worth Rs 95 billion during this period, he noted.

"The present rally is all the more significant since it provides enough opportunities to the new investor coming in now as several pockets of the economy still offer value going forward," he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended with losses, while Seoul was positive.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.47 per cent to USD 73.23 per barrel.