The National Stock Exchange's index Nifty on Thursday regained the psychological 5,500 points level after a gap of 30 months, while the BSE Sensex shot up by over 88 points in opening trade on continued buying by funds.
The 50-share NSE barometer Nifty gained 26.70 points to trade at nearly 30-month high of 5,505.85 points in the first five minutes of trade. Earlier, the index had crossed the level on 5th February, 2008.
The 30-share index added 88.04 points, or 0.48 per cent, to trade at 18,345.16 points. It had gained 208.27 points in the previous session.
Healthcare, capital goods, metal and oil and gas stocks led the rally, helping the Nifty to regain 5,500 points level.
The market sentiment was firm in line with a strong trend in the Asian region after US markets closed in positive zone on Wednesday.
The Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 0.49 per cent while Japanese Nikkei gained nearly 1 per cent in the morning trade on Thursday.