The benchmark equity index, Sensex, surpassed its previous lifetime high during the early trade on Thursday.

The Sensex peaked at 40,329 after the US Federal Reserve slashed it interest rates for the third time this year. It cooled down a little to settle at 40,129.05 on closing.

This comes 100 days after it hit an all-time high of 40,312 on July 4 ahead of the Union Budget.

The rally on Thursday was led by Asian Paints, which was up a whopping 28%, Hindustan Unilever which soared by 19%, Bajaj Finance (up 15%) and Reliance Industries (up 9%).

Four stocks -- Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto, and Reliance Industries -- touched 52-week highs.

Besides, global cues have also been favourable for the past few weeks. Global markets are bullish on US-China trade talks and the Brexit issue.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates for the third time this year in a move to ensure the US economy weathers a global trade war without slipping into a recession.

However, it has signalled its rate-cut cycle might be at a pause.

This comes after the Indian government took several concrete steps to comb at a sharp slowdown in the Indian economic activity recently.

The Modi government among other sector specific measures reduced the corporate tax which helped several companies report better than expected results for the second quarter ending September.

Analysts are of the opinion that there is strong momentum with Q2 earnings being healthy. They see the positive sentiment to continue in the short term.

In terms of sectors, analysts are broadly betting on IT, pharma, paint, corporate bank and FMCG sectors.

It must also be stated that the Sensex plunged after it peaked on July 4 in anticipation of a corporate friendly Union Budget.

However, contrary to expectation Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman introduced unpopular taxes like cess on Foreign Portfolio Investment, which caused massive outflow of foreign funds and sharp decline in stock market.

With IANS inputs