Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex today went past the 36,000 level for the first time while the Nifty hit another record high of 11,045.60 in late morning trade on the back of widespread gains in IT, financials, FMCG and metal stocks.

The benchmark BSE Sensex breached the historic 36,000 level by surging 253.85 points, 0.70 per cent to hit yet another record high of 36,051.86 in late morning deals.

The gauge had rallied 1,026.96 points in the previous four back-to-back record-setting sessions.

The broader Nifty too climbed 79.40 points, or 0.72 per cent, to trade at an all-time high of 11,045.60, surpassing its previous intra-day high of 10,975.10 touched yesterday.

Besides, positive global cues, strong liquidity in the market following unabated foreign fund inflows and steady and widening of bets by investors ahead of the upcoming Budget on February 1, drove markets to record highs, brokers said.

Top performers that lifted the key indices to lifetime highs were Tata Steel, Infosys, Dr Reddy's, M&M, ONGC, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, ITC Ltd, Axis Bank, HDFC Ltd, NTPC and L&T.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,567.51 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Globally, other Asian markets too were in bullish form firm, tracking record closing at the Wall Street in yesterday's trade.