Stock markets remained buoyant for the sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, with the BSE benchmark Sensex rising by nearly 140 points to a fresh 32-month high as FIIs continued to bet big on India.
     
After regaining the 19,000-level on Monday, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share barometer ended the day higher by 138.63 points, or 0.72 percent, at 19,346.96. Its previous best close was 19,700.82 on January 17, 2008.
     
Similarly, the wide-based 50-share Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange added 0.62 percent to end near the 5,800-level. The index finished the day at 5,795.55.       

At one point of time during trade on Tuesday, the Sensex hit a high of 19,487. Market players attributed the rise to foreign institutional investors pumping in funds as they remained bullish on the India growth story, especially after 13.8 percent growth in industrial output in July.
     
Discarding the possibility of profit-booking at higher levels, brokers said markets would continue to rise.
     
"This is a liquidity-supported rally and we hope the bull run will continue for some time," Edelweiss Capital Head of Institutional Equities Vikas Khemani said.
     
Markets discarded inflation falling to 8.5 percent in August. Analysts, however, said that all eyes are now on the Reserve Bank's mid-quarter review of monetary policy on Thursday. The apex bank's stance on interest rate in view of high inflation would direct the market, they added.
     
Advance tax collection numbers are another indicator that could impact the sentiment, they said further.
     
In terms of sectors, consumer durables, IT and auto were by far the biggest winners. Select capital goods, FMCG, Oil & Gas, PSU and banking indices on the BSE also gained. However, profit-booking at metal, realty and power counters pared some of the gains.
     
IT major Wipro zoomed 3.6 percent and was the top gainer in the Sensex pack. Other peers also participated in rally, with Infosys rising 1.38 percent and TCS 1.65 percent.      

Analysts said a forecast for faster European economic growth boosted confidence and led the rally in IT stocks.
     
Among frontline banking stocks, HDFC Bank jumped 2.33 percent, HDFC 1.27 percent and ICICI Bank 0.27 percent. SBI, which had gained over 5 percent in the previous session, saw some profit-booking and ended 1 percent lower.
     
In the auto segment, Tata Motors gained 2.73 percent, Maruti 1.5 percent and M&M 1.44 percent.
     
Bharti Airtel also rose by 2.12 percent and Jaiprakash Associates by 3.31 percent. Furthermore, L&T advanced by nearly 1 percent.
     
In the 30-BSE index components, 19 stocks closed with gains, while 11 ended in the negative zone.

The market breadth was negative as small-caps and mid- caps lost ground. However, trading volumes and turnover was on an upswing, underscoring the current positive momentum in the market.
     
On the global front, Asian stocks ended narrowly mixed. The key indices in Japan, Singapore and Kospi ended lower by 0.24 percent to 0.59 percent, while bourses in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan inched up by 0.01 percent to 0.51 percent.      

After registering initial gains, European shares fell back in late morning deals ahead of the release of key data by Germany and the United States, which is likely to indicate the pace of economic recovery. Key indices in the UK, France and Germany were down by 0.19 percent to 0.36 percent.