Sensex hits fresh all-time high: Five things to know

Sensex hit fresh all-time high in early trade today led by gains in banking and metal stocks. While Sensex reached 41,262 rising over 300 points, Nifty gained over 100 points to 12,142. Sensex has hit new high for the second straight day. On Monday,  Sensex reached a new peak of 41,185. Nifty50 too rose to 12,158, its all-time high. Sectorally, all the indices traded in the green. Here's a look at 10 things to know about Sensex hitting fresh high today.

Share Market LIVE: Sensex hits another fresh lifetime high of 41,262, Nifty at 12,140; TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra top gainers

1. Tata Steel, Vedanta and YES Bank were the top Sensex gainers.  On Nifty, Tata Steel , Vedanta and JSW Steel led the gains. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 25 were trading in green. On Nifty, 41 components were trading higher against 9 stocks falling on the benchmark index.

2. Market breadth was positive with 1134 stocks rising against 799 falling on BSE. 114 stocks were unchanged. 25 stocks on BSE hit their 52-week highs against 58 touching their 52-week lows. Number of securities hitting their upper circuits stood at 119 against 113 making fresh lower circuits.

3. On BSE, Prestige Estates, Time Technoplast Ltd and NIIT Technologies Ltd were the top gainers. Trident, PC Jeweller and Suzlon were top losers on BSE.    

4. Strong Chinese economic data helped sentiment in global markets. Growth in factory activity and retail sales in the world's second-largest economy that both beat analysts' expectations in November led Asian shares higher in trade today. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3% in early trading to 24,028.41. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.6% to 2,181.99. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4% to 27,627.97, while the Shanghai Composite stood at 2,990.38, up 0.2%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 6,848.40.

5. Overnight, US markets hit all-time highs for the third straight trading day after US and China reached a long-awaited "Phase 1" trade deal. The trade pact removed some of the uncertainty that's hung over businesses and investors. The S&P 500 rose 22.65 points, or 0.7%, to 3,191.45. The benchmark index is on a four-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100.51 points, or 0.4%, to 28,235.89. The Nasdaq composite climbed 79.35 points, or 0.9%, to 8,814.23.

By Aseem Thapliyal