Expectations of faster economic growth on the back of the recently announced recapitalisation measures for state-run banks lifted the key Indian equity indices for the fourth straight week and led the 30-scrip Sensex to close above the 33,000-points-mark.
Other factors like prospects of additional liquidity, healthy buying in bluechip stocks, along with hopes of better quarterly results aided in the key indices upward trajectory.
However, volatility and profit bookings which emerged at the end of the weekly trade capped gains.
On a weekly basis, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) edged higher by 572.87 points or 1.75 per cent to 33,157.22 points.
Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made gains. It rose by 112.2 points or 1.09 per cent to close at 10,323.05 points.
The S&P BSE Sensex touched a record new intra-day highs of 33,286.51 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 breached 10,366.15-points-mark.
"Domestic markets soared to lifetime highs on broadly positive global cues despite the fact earnings of the corporates are yet to show any meaningful recovery," D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, told IANS.
"The bulls got the strength after the announcement of the bank recapitalisation plan by the government to address the issue of inadequate lending and approval of the proposal for Bharatmala Pariyojana phase-I along with other programmes."
Harsha Upadhyaya, Chief Investment Officer -- Equity, Kotak Mutual Fund said: "While it was all about lights and fireworks during Diwali week, it was all about recapitalisation bazooka for ailing PSU banks this week."
Even the domestic political cues supported the Indian indices northward movement.
"Early opinion polls placed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the driving seat in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. This enhanced investors' risk-taking appetite," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.
"Investors holding short positions also covered their shorts which further fuelled the rally."
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, better than expected results from bluechip companies helped the market to remain on a positive note.
"The F&O expiry week added some volatility in the market, however stock and sector specific actions helped the market to trade in a positive territory," Nair said.
In terms of investments, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that FIIs (foreign institutional investors) were net buyers of stocks. They invested in Rs 912.33 crore during the week ended October 27. The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) pumped-in Rs 220.87 crore.
On the currency front, the rupee remained flat and closed at 65.05 against the US dollar.
On a sector specific basis PSU bank, media, infra and metals indices gained during the week ended October 27, whereas IT index plunged, said Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
Analysts pointed out that telecom stocks gained early in the weekly trade after Reliance Industries Ltd's unit Jio raised data tariffs.
"Telecom sector witnessed value buying in expectation of normalisation of tariffs, consolidation in the industry, and better outlook on data usage," Nair added.
