The BSE Sensex and the Nifty closed at record high levels on Wednesday led by gains in banking, auto and oil & gas shares. Sensex rose 199.31 points or 0.49% to close at 41,020.61 while the NSE benchmark Nifty50 index rallied 63 points or 0.52% to settle above the 12,100 mark for the first time.

Indian shares opened on a stronger note on Wednesday tracking positive global shares and led by short-covering ahead of the expiry of November series derivative contracts. The Sensex moved in a range of 230 points while the Nifty hovered between 12,055.15 and 12,114.90 before settling at 12,100.70.

Yes Bank rose 8.08% to become the top gainer among the Nifty50 stocks after the company sold pledged Reliance Capital shares for the third day. UltraTech Cement, SBI, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco and UPL were the other prominent gainers in the index rising between 1.8-3.09%. Reliance Industries, which rose 0.62% to close at a record high of Rs 1,569.85, also contributed to Sensex and Nifty's gains today.

On Tuesday, the Sensex touched its all-time intra-day high of 41,120.28 before closing down by 67.93 points or 0.17% at 40,821.30. The Nifty also soared to a new peak of 12,132.45 in day trade before giving up gains to end lower by 36.05 points or 0.30% at 12,037.70.

Meanwhile, Bharti Infratel was the top loser in Nifty, down 3.16% followed by Cipla, L&T and ICICI Bank.

Analysts say positive flows from foreign investors and short-covering ahead of the derivative expiry on Thursday helped market gain. Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 4,677.75 crore in the capital market on Tuesday. Domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 4,242.01 crore, according to data available with stock exchanges.

The Indian rupee gained 10 paise to trade at 71.38 against the US dollar as of 4 pm.