Mumbai, Dec 27 (IANS): The benchmark indices soared to record highs on Wednesday with the Sensex up almost 1 per cent, or 701 points, at 72,038.43, and Nifty hitting a new high of 21,654.75, registering an increase of 1 per sent or 213 points, said Mandar Bhojane, Equity Research Analyst at Choice Broking.

With the exception of the oil & gas and power sectors, all other sectoral indices ended in green, with auto, bank and metals up 1 per cent each, he said.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said that domestic equities surged higher on Wednesday supported by positive global cues and sharp decline in India’s current account deficit to 1 per cent.

Nifty made a fresh high of 21,654.75 supported by buying in index heavyweights and closed with handsome gains of 213 points (+1 per cent).

PSU banks and metals were the top gainers on Wednesday, up 1-2 per cent each. The cement sector was in limelight on the expectation of strong volume growth.

Healthy macro data and rally in global markets helped Nifty touch new highs even in the holiday season. While the derivatives monthly expiry on Thursday may infuse some volatility, the undertone remains bullish with the market making steady gains in the last few weeks.

Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio, said Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto, which were up 2.06 per cent and 1.51 per cent, respectively, were the two sectors that did better on Wednesday.

Due to their greater weight in the Nifty PSU Bank, Bank of Baroda and SBI contributed to the increase.