Indian shares hit fresh all-time closing highs

Indian shares hit fresh all-time closing highs on Friday buoyed by foreign funds buying for the fourth successive day and encouraged by the overnight strength on Wall Street.

Benchmark indices advanced 0.5 per cent, helped the market end the opening week of 2018 on a high note.

The 30-share Sensex rose 184 points to end at 34153.85 points after reaching intra-day high of 34,188.85, reports Economic Times.

Nifty touched a life high of 10566.10 before ending at a record 10558.85, up 54 points from the previous close.

The BSE midcap index too ended at a record level, advancing 0.7 per cent. The volatility index — a measure of traders' perception of near-term risks in the market — fell 2.2 per cent to 13.11.

Yes BankBSE 5.03 per cent rose 5.0 per cent to Rs 333 while Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank and Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained 2-4 per cent.

The Nifty is trading at an estimated price to earnings ratio of 21.34 times compared to 13.09 times for the MSCI EM index.

Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers for the fourth straight day, adding shares worth about Rs 5.81 million on Friday.

So far in 2018, they have purchased shares worth Rs 16.70 million. Analysts said the consecutive foreign purchases were encouraging but the quantum of buying is moderate.