Indian benchmark indices closed at record highs on Tuesday, buoyed by a surge in financial and banking stocks.

The Sensex closed at 78,053.52, up 712.44 points or 0.92 percent, while the Nifty closed at 23,721.30, up 183.45 points or 0.78 percent, both touching new lifetime highs.

The Bank Nifty surpassed the 52,500 mark for the first time, highlighting strong momentum in the banking sector. Stocks of Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank saw significant gains during trading hours.

Among the sectoral indices, banking, financial services, IT, PSU banks, and private banks surged, while stocks in FMCG, auto, media, metal, pharma, realty, healthcare, consumer durables, and oil and gas closed in the red.

“Among sectors, banking and financial indices outperformed, both rallying over 1 percent, whereas the realty index shed nearly 2 percent. Technically, after a strong opening, the market held the positive momentum throughout the day,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.

(With ANI input)