A day after it breached the 35,000 mark for the first time, the BSE Sensex rose further and closed at a fresh record high on Thursday, taking cues from overseas markets.

Stocks of banks led the way, after media reports claimed that the government might increase the foreign investment limits for banks. Some reports had said that the Centre was considering a higher ceiling for foreign investment limits in private as well as public sector banks. Allowing foreign investors to participate more in Indian banks would pump in more foreign money into the country, which is seen as positive for the economy.

The Sensex closed the day at 35,260.29 points, higher than Wednesday’s close by 178.47 points. The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty 50 gained 28.45 points to end at 10,817.

ITC, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Kotak Bank were the top gainers on the Sensex. The share price of HDFC Bank reached a new high on Thursday and took its market capitalisation beyond the Rs-5-lakh-crore level.

The stocks that declined the most on the Sensex were Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Coal India, Sun Pharma and State Bank of India.

On the Nifty 50, the top five gainers were ITC, Indiabulls Housing, HDFC Bank, UPL and HDFC. The stocks of Bharti Infratel, Hindalco Industries, Adani Ports, Tata Steel and Vedanta were the top five losers.

The Indian rupee was at 63.8525 a dollar at 5.05 pm, higher than Wednesday’s close of 63.89.