Indian shares clocked a record closing high on Wednesday helped by a rally in auto and realty stocks, while investors awaited a central bank policy meet due this week. The broader NSE index ended 0.30 percent higher at 9,265.15. Earlier in the day the index hit 9273.9, its highest ever. The benchmark BSE index closed up 0.21 percent at 29,974.24 after breaching the 30,000 mark earlier in the session for the first time since March 4, 2015.
The monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to leave the repo rate at 6.25 percent, where it has been since October, a Reuters poll found. However, investors are expecting the RBI to announce measures to drain the 4 trillion rupees that has accumulated in the banking system in March, double as compared with January.
"The market is moving slightly ahead of time, so it is taking a small breather. One might see some profit-booking as well," said Deven Choksey, managing director, K R Choksey Investment Managers. Housing Development Finance Corp dropped as much as 2.25 percent. Among gainers, Shankara Building Products Ltd surged as much as 37 percent on its market debut, with its up to 3.45 billion rupees ($52.96 million) IPO oversubscribed more than 41 times. Shares of Titan Company Ltd hit a record high after it said consumer sentiment has recovered in January-March quarter and sales were good for all divisions.