Mumbai:  Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Friday started at fresh highs led by gains in index-heavyweights RIL, ICICI Bank and SBI amid uninterrupted foreign fund inflow. After hitting its record intra-day high of 41,809.96, the 30-share BSE index was trading 102.51 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 41,776.43 in opening session. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 22.70 points or 0.19 per cent to 12,282.40. It hit an intra-day lifetime high of 12,284.65.

Yes Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack rising up to 2.91 per cent, followed by SBI, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, TCS, L&T and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, Vedanta was the top loser, shedding up to 0.97 per cent. Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and HUL were also trading in the red.

In the previous session, the 30-share gauge settled 115.35 points, or 0.28 per cent, higher at its fresh closing record of 41,673.92. Similarly, the Nifty rose 38.05 points, or 0.31 per cent, to its new peak of 12,259.70. According to experts, the market rally may be fuelled by hopes of a budget stimulus to spur economic growth.

The positive momentum is premised on improvement in earnings on the back of tailwinds from lower corporate tax rate, good monsoon, transmission of lower interest rates and benefits of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in the new year, they said. Further, persistent foreign fund inflow also kept market on a high, as per traders.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 739.43 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 493.95 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchange showed. Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were trading on a positive note, while those in Tokyo were in the red. Benchmark indices on Wall Street ended higher on Thursday. Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.11 per cent to USD 66.61 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 8 paise to 71.11 against the US dollar in morning session.