Reliance leads Indian shares to record highs

India's benchmark equity indexes hit record highs on Wednesday, led by gains in heavyweight Reliance Industries and private lenders such as ICICI Bank.

The NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.6 per cent each to hit record highs as of 12:51 pm.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance, which has a weightage of about 10 per cent in the Nifty 50 and had underperformed during a recent market rally, rose about 3 per cent, inching towards record high levels.

Reliance also powered the energy and oil & gas indexes 1 per cent higher. Its shares have risen only 0.3 per cent since the end of March, underperforming the 7 per cent rise in Nifty.

The Nifty 50 has hit record highs in seven out of the last 10 sessions.

"Sector-rotation is underway, smart money is finding pockets with valuations comfort and earnings visibility, and that's powering markets higher," Viraj Gandhi, chief executive at SAMCO Mutual Fund said.

"Pockets of large-caps like private banks and other top conglomerates that have not participated in the rally despite strong earnings outlook, could see money chasing them as their valuations have scope for upside."

Private lenders rose 0.6 per cent, extending their outperformance over the benchmark in June.

ICICI Bank, the third-heaviest Nifty 50 stock, gained 1.3 per cent.

In contrast, metals were down 1.3 per cent, with 13 of the 15 constituents falling, on soft global prices amid a strong US dollar.

Miner Vedanta was down 3 per cent after its parent announced plans to sell 2.6 per cent stake to a group of institutional investors.

State-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders rose 4.5 per cent to a record high after getting the so-called "Navratna' status from the government, giving the company freedom to make bigger investments.

Small- and mid-caps were muted, adding 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala )