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The Sensex, which had gained 445 points in the last three trading sessions, advanced further by 132.95 points to 18,799.66, its highest close in 31 months, with banking and financial stocks attracting the most investor interest.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 32.20 points to 5,640.05 after touching an intra-day high of 5,647.45.
Brokers said some profit-booking amid the overall bullish sentiment pared the gains, ahead of a three-day long week end due to tomorrow's Ramzan Id holiday.
The market sentiment was bullish on the back of a firming trend in Asia, buoyed by greater confidence in the US economy after the Federal Reserve revealed that the economy registered sustained growing from July to August.
In the 30-BSE index components, 18 stocks advanced, while 12 ended in the negative zone.
Banking shares gained the most on expectations that the beginning of the festive season might see a surge in consumer spending and boost loan offtake. The banking sector index added 2.19 per cent to 12,984.19.
Among banking stocks, State Bank of India, the largest state-run lender, spurted by Rs 88.30 to Rs 2,982.50 and ICICI Bank, a leading private lender, rose by Rs 25.45 to Rs 1,050.75. HDFC Bank gained Rs 58.20 to Rs 2,240.45.
In the consumer durables sector, Hindustan Unilever rose by Rs 3.65 to Rs 277.85, Whirlpool by Rs 25.90 to Rs 319.45 and Videocon Industries by Rs 3.45 to Rs 266.65. The consumer durables sectoral index gained 0.64 per cent to 5,912.61.
With buying activity spilling over a wide front, the mid -cap sector index rose by 0.81 per cent to 8,061.32 and the small-cap index by 0.59 per cent to 10,276.16.
Markets @ 11.54 AM (PTI)
The BSE Sensex powered to a 31-month high for the fourth day on Thursday, with investor confidence upbeat on rising foreign portfolio inflows and easing concerns about Europe's debt troubles.
Banking shares led the gains as fund managers bet the sector would benefit from a booming domestic economy, which is expected to expand 8.5 percent in the current year to March.
Traders said they expected profit-taking to kick in ahead of a three-day weekend. The market is closed on Friday for a local holiday.
By 11:54 a.m. (0624 GMT), the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading up 0.4 percent at 18,741.46, with half its components rising. It had hit 18,797.58 early, its highest since February 2008.
"There will be profit-taking at these levels," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities. "This is the last leg of a short-term rally. The dips should be used to buy."
State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, the country's top two lenders, were both up 1.4 percent, while HDFC Bank rose 2.2 percent.
Automakers were in demand after an industry body said car sales rose by a third to a record high in August.
Tata Motors rose 0.5 percent, while Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra firmed 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.
The BSE Sensex has risen more than 7 percent so far in 2010, helped by foreign portfolio investments of over $13 billion.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers in a ratio of 1.8:1 on volume of 201.5 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index was up 0.3 percent at 5,625.30.
Ambareesh Baliga, vice president of Karvy Stock Broking, said the market was getting overvalued and the NSE index could face resistance 5,650.
Elsewhere the MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.7 percent by 0631 GMT, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8 percent.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Hindustan Unilever was trading up 1.5 percent on a report in the DNA newspaper the company had hiked prices of detergents.
* Port operator and developer Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd, which listed at a premium of 22 percent to its issue price of 46 rupees, was trading at 53.30 rupees.
* Vindhya Telelink was up by 10 percent at 437.65 rupees after the Economic Times reported the company, in collaboration with Ericsson Cables, was set to bag a 75.82 billion rupees optic fibre network contract from state-run BSNL.
MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME
* Gujarat Pipavav on 32.5 million shares
* Ispat Industries on 5.6 million shares
* SpiceJet on 1.97 million shares
Markets @ 09.00 AM (PTI)
Continuing its winning streak for the fourth day today, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex shot up by 100.39 points in the opening trade, amid bullish domestic sentiment and a renewed confidence in the European market recovery after Portugal's successful debt bond auction.
The 30-share index gained 0.54 per cent to trade at 18,767.10 points, the best level since February, 2008.
Likewise, the wide-based National Stock Exchange's Nifty also rose by 22.35 points to 5,630.20 points, an increase of 0.40 per cent.
Brokers said sentiments remained bullish on firming trends on the other Asian bourses after overnight gains at the US market on easing concerns about European debt woes.
At domestic front, all the sectoral indices, led by realty and banking, were trading in positive territory with gains up to 0.91 per cent on steady capital inflows.
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