Sensex hits record high; Nifty rises to 7,634.70 points

Mumbai: The BSE sensex and Nifty rose to record highs on Wednesday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's comment on Tuesday that "mindless populism" in policymaking needed to be checked stoke exepectations of a pragmatic budget on July 10.

The benchmark, trading 0.9 per cent higher, rose to a record high of 25,749.62. The Nifty also rose to a record high at 7,634.70 points

Among the blue-chips, ICICI Bank gains 1.5 per cent while Housing Development Finance Corp rose 1.4 per cent. Jaitley's comments that a high fiscal deficit and inflation are major challenges for India also added to expectations that he could unveil fiscal consolidation measures in his first annual budget, traders said.