Sensex, Nifty hit new record highs, banks lead rally

The Nifty rose as much as 1.2 percent on Monday to a record high, surpassing its previous all-time high hit just last week, as lenders including ICICI Bank extended a recent rally on the back of strong foreign investor flows.The NSE's bank sub-index has surged around 14 percent so far this month, outperforming the nearly 5 percent gain in the Nifty.Suresh Ganapathy, banking analyst at Macquarie Capital Securities believes it is going to be a tactical rally in banking stocks, which tend to do well pre-polls. But beyond that fundamentals are not good as far as bank stocks are concerned and that is likely to stay for the next 12-18 months.[caption id="attachment_77002" align="alignleft" width="380"] Reuters[/caption]Analysts have cited heavy buying by foreign investors into a sector that last year under-performed the broader index, while expectations the Reserve Bank of India would keep interest rates on hold at its policy review on April 1 are also aiding the gains.The Nifty rose to an all time high of 6,575.80 points, and was up 1.2 percent at 9:48 a.m., surpassing its previous all-time high hit on March 18.The BSE Sensex also hit a record high at 22,046.58.ICICI Bank  gained 2.8 percent, while HDFC Bank rose 1.8 percent.With inputs from ReutersThis story was first published in Firstbiz.