From the covid low of 25,638 on March 24, 2020, the BSE Sensex has surged around 125%.The Indian equity benchmarks scaled record highs for second straight session with the BSE benchmark - S-P BSE Sensex - closing above the 60,000 mark for the first time and Nifty ending above important level of 17,850.

The markets staged a gap up opening led by gains in Infosys, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC and ICICI Bank.

The Sensex climbed as much as 448 points to hit record high of 60,333 and Nifty 50 touched an all-time high 17,947.65.

Decline in covid cases, rising vaccination and improvement in the economic environment of the country is fuelling the current bull run in the equity markets, analysts said.The Sensex advanced 163 points to close at record high of 60,048 and Nifty 50 index rose 30 points to end at an all-time high of 17,853.From the covid low of 25,638 on March 24, 2020, the BSE Sensex has surged around 125 per cent within a span of 18 months.

Sensex's journey from 50,000 to 60,000 was the fastest ever 10,000-point rally in the 30-share index as it took only eight months for bulls to climb mount 60K."Expectations of solid economic recovery and sustained growth in the next couple of years is keeping the bulls enthused.

Also from global funds perspective, India remains an attractive destination, especially in the China+1 scenario.

Having said that retail investors must have a diversified portfolio at this stage to face any kind of volatility," said Sandeep Bharadwaj, CEO, retail at IIFL Securities.Telecom shares witnessed strong buying interest as the gauge of telecom stocks- S-P BSE Telecom index - advanced nearly 3 per cent.

Information technology, consumer durables, auto and realty shares also witnessed buying interest.On the other hand, selling pressure was visible in metal, oil - gas, power, FMCG and select banking shares.Mid- and small-cap shares faced selling pressure on account of profit booking at record highs as the S-P BSE MidCap index fell 1.2 per cent and S-P BSE SmallCap index declined 0.3 per cent.Sansera Engineering made a tepid debut on stock exchanges on Friday.

The Bengaluru-based auto parts maker opened for trading at Rs 811.5 on the BSE, marking a premium of 8.62 per cent from issue price of Rs 744.

On the National Stock Exchange, Sansera Engineering opened at a premium of 9.07 per cent.Asian Paints was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 3.74 per cent to close at Rs 3,445.

Eicher Motors, Mahindra - Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Grasim Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank also rose between 0.7-3 per cent.On the flipside, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, Divi's Labs, Shree Cements, Axis Bank, ITC, NTPC, ONGC and Tata Consumer Products were among the losers.The overall market breadth turned negative towards the end of the session as 1,937 shares ended lower while 1,330 closed higher on the BSE.