Mumbai: The Nifty advanced by around 26 points or 0.25 per cent to scale a new high of 10,178.95 while the Sensex rallied over 100 points in opening today on the back of persistent buying by domestic institutional investors amid positive Asian cues.

The Nifty rallied 25.85 points, or 0.25 per cent, to a new record high of 10,178.95, surpassing its previous intra- day high of 10,171.70 it touched yesterday.

Rising for the ninth day, the 30-share Sensex advanced by 100.35 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 32,524.11. The gauge had risen 761.79 points in the previous eight straight sessions.

Sectoral indices of auto, realty, healthcare, consumer durables and oil & gas were in the positive space, rising up to 0.69 per cent.

Brokers said continuous buying by DIIs coupled with short-covering by speculators and a firming trend at other Asian markets in line with another record performance on the Wall Street overnight buoyed trading sentiments here.

Prominent gainers were Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Lupin, Kotak Bank, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, Dr Reddy’s, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Auto, helping the broader Nifty to trade at fresh life high.

Among Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.14 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.47 per cent in early trade today. Shanghai Composite was slightly down.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.28 per cent higher yesterday.