India's benchmark share market touched an all-time closing high Tuesday on sustained large-scale domestic and foreign institutional inflows into the trading ring.

The stock market opened for the day on a sharply positive note with investors enlarging their positions on both new and old economy firms, enthused by signs of robust economic and corporate performance in the current fiscal year.

Hopes of an early settlement of a family feud between the Ambani brothers, who control India's largest private business conglomerate Reliance Industries, over the group's ownership also boosted the investor sentiment.

Reflecting the bullish market sentiment, the stock market barometer 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index or Sensex closed at 6,234.29, representing a gain of 76.52 points or 1.24 percent over its previous session's close.

The index bettered its previous record high of 6,194.11 touched in January. The market is few points away from its all-time intra-day high of 6,294.60 also touched in January.

"The Indian stock market has really come a long way in the last couple of years with the index touching record highs twice within a calendar year," said Deepak Shah, an equity market analyst with Pranav Securities.

"The index rising to a record closing high surely comes as a major boost for investors who were badly hit by the volatile trade of the last few months. The sharp recovery shows the strength of the market," Shah told IANS.

"The market rally has been mainly helped by hopes of continued impressive economic performance by the country and robust corporate earnings."

A section of dealers said the market index had soared sharply higher in the past month on the back of massive inflows of foreign funds that has touched record levels.

Net investments by foreign institutional investors, which act as the backbone for India's liquidity-starved capital market, have touched record levels in the current year.

Net overseas fund inflows have crossed $6.8 billion, the highest ever investment in any calendar year in the history of the Indian stock market. In 2003, foreign funds had pumped in $6.59 billion.

In the old economy sector, shares of Reliance Industries gained 1.4 percent to touch Rs.516.75 on renewed institutional buying at lower levels after the past week's battering.

The Reliance group arm Reliance Energy too ended nearly one percent higher at Rs.560.65.

Reliance Energy, a power utility arm of the business conglomerate, Tuesday asked six of its directors to reconsider their resignations    

The Reliance Energy board, which met here Tuesday to consider the resignations, has urged all six directors to function normally.

Reliance Energy, headed by Anil Ambani who is locked in a feud with his elder brother Mukesh Ambani over the control of Reliance Industries, said the company board "reposed full trust and confidence" in the existing management.

The company, involved in generation, transmission and distribution of power, had informed the Bombay Stock Exchange last Thursday that six directors had resigned. It didn't give any reason.

Mukesh, 47, is the chairman and managing director of the flagship Reliance Industries, while Anil, 45, holds the vice chairman's office. The younger sibling is also chairman and managing director of Reliance Energy.

The resignation of the Reliance Energy directors came in the wake of an admission to private TV channel CNBC TV18 by Mukesh that there were "ownership issues" in the Reliance group that logs Rs.800 billion in annual sales.

--Indo-Asian News Service