Mumbai, June 28 -- The Nifty 50 appears firmly on track to challenge its record high from last September after breaking out on Thursday from a one-and-a-half-month range-bound activity. Supported by bullish rollover signals from the June derivatives expiry, the index has turned former resistance into fresh support, even as foreign investors continue to pare equity holdings while domestic institutions keep pouring in funds.

On Thursday, the bellwether index rose 1.2% to 25,549 on the expiry of the June series of derivatives, decisively breaching the 24,500-25,200 range that it had been stuck in since mid-May. Marketwide futures and options contracts expire on the last Thursday of every month.

The Nifty 50 consolidated its gains further o...