Mumbai, Aug 25 (IANS): A benchmark index of Indian equities markets hit a record high of 26,630.74 points before closing at 26,437.02 points in a volatile trade session Monday.

Sensex made healthy gains in the day's trade, surpassing its previous high of 26,530.67 points recorded Aug 19. It witnessed panic selling in coal and power entities after the Supreme Court passed a judgment stating that all coal block allocations since 1992 were illegal.

In the intra-day trade, metal, bank, capital goods, realty and oil and gas declined, however, information technology (IT), fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), and automobile sectors gained.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,490.31 points, closed at 26,437.02 points, up 17.47 points or 0.07 percent from the previous day's close at 26,419.55 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 26,630.74 points and a low of 26,401.64 points in the intra-trade.

The S&P BSE metal index declined 558.01 points, bank index was lower 161.50 points, capital goods index was lower by 99.76 point, realty index fell by 36.62 points and oil and gas index slipped by 24.66 points.

However, IT index was up 96.05 points, FMCG index was higher by 73.26 points and automobile index increased by 72.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too touched a record high. It touched 7,968.25 points, surpassing its previous record high of 7,929.05 points touched on Aug 22.

However, it closed at 7,906.30 points, down 6.09 points or 0.09 percent from its previous close.

The major Sensex gainers were: Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), up 2.42 percent at Rs.2,521.15; DrReddy, up 2.04 percent at Rs.2,884; Hero MotoCorp, up 1.88 percent at Rs.2,578.65; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.81 percent at Rs.717.10 and Maruti Suzuki, up 1.71 percent at Rs.2,802.400.

The losers were: Hindalco Inds, down 9.56 percent at Rs.164.65; Tata Steel, down 4.79 percent at Rs.511.85; Seas Sterlite, down 3.89 percent at Rs.280.25; Tata Power , down 3.42 percent at Rs.90.35 and ICICI Bank, down 1.52 percent at Rs.1,514.35.

In Asian markets, Nikkei closed 0.48 percent up, but Hong Kong's Hang Sang closed 0.22 percent higher, while China's Shanghai Composite index was down 0.51 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down by 0.04 percent, Germany's DAX Index was 1.19 percent up and France's CAC 40 was higher by 1.25 percent.