Sensex hits 18K; midcaps, smallcaps rally

Indian equity benchmarks continued their upside for the second consecutive day - the Nifty was inching up towards the 5400 level at 10:43 hours as global markets were on uptrend on stablility in Egypt after President Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak resigned on Friday. He handed over control of the country to the military after headed country for 30-years as a president.

About 10 shares gained as compared to one share declined on NSE Nifty 50. Financial, metal, capital goods, auto and power companies' shares were leading the markets higher. However, heavyweight Reliance Industries on sellers' radar today with nearly one percent fall as there were reports that the company may have to pay fine for insider trading.

Rakesh Arora of Macquarie Capital Securities is bullish on Indian markets. He said that the Sensex is likely to touch 22,000 by the year-end.

Arora explained that there is a renewed interest as the Indian growth story looks largely unparallel in the world.