Mumbai, Jan. 2 -- Equity benchmark index Nifty hit its lifetime peak before closing 182 points higher on Friday, and the BSE Sensex jumped 573 points, powered by strong buying in power, banking and metal stocks.

Unabated capital infusion by domestic institutional investors amid a sharp rally in Asian peers also supported the domestic stock market, traders said.

Charting out a firm trend, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 573.41 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 85,762.01. During the day, it jumped 623.67 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 85,812.27.

A total of 2,772 stocks advanced, while 1,449 declined and 150 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Rising for the third-straight session, the 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 182 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 26,328.55. During the day, it surged 193.45 points, or 0.73 per cent, to reach an all-time peak of 26,340.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark jumped 720.56 points or 0.84 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 286.25 points or 1.09 per cent.

From the 30-Sensex firms, NTPC, Trent, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Maruti, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Bharat Electronics were among the biggest gainers.

In contrast, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan Company, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel were the laggards.

Shares of cigarette and tobacco product makers ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST Industries ended lower on Friday, extending their previous day's decline, after the government imposed an additional excise duty on such products effective February 1.

ITC's stock ended 3.79 per cent lower at Rs 350.15 on the BSE. During the day, the stock tumbled 5.11 per cent to Rs 345.35 - its 52-week low. ITC emerged as the biggest laggard among the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty firms.The stock of Godfrey Phillips India dipped 1.70 per cent to end at Rs 2,250.65. VST Industries also declined by 1.49 per cent to Rs 251.35.

The BSE midcap gauge jumped 0.97 per cent, and the smallcap index climbed 0.79 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, utilities surged 2.71 per cent, power (2.26 per cent), energy (1.58 per cent), PSU bank (1.53 per cent), realty (1.46 per cent), metal (1.46 per cent) and auto (1.04 per cent). On the other hand, BSE FMCG emerged as the only loser.

The Indian rupee slipped below the 90-mark and settled the day lower by 22 paise at 90.20 against the US dollar on Friday, amid disappointing macroeconomic data and strengthening of the American currency in overseas markets.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.