Dec 1 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks opened higher on Monday and hit record high levels as stronger-than-expected economic growth in the quarter through September boosted investor sentiment.
The Nifty rose 0.47% to 26,325.80 at the open and Sensex gained 0.42% to 86,065.92, as of 9:15 a.m. IST, both surpassing the previous all-time high levels hit on Thursday.
Fifteen of the 16 major sectors advanced at the open. The broader small-caps and mid-caps gained 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
The broad-based rise in equities comes after data showed India's economy grew 8.2% in July-September against a forecast of 7.3% in a Reuters poll and 7.8% in the previous quarter.
Growth was supported by robust consumer spending and front-loading of production before local festivals.
Barclays raised its financial year 2025-26 growth forecast for India to 7.2% from 6.8% following the better-than-expected data and strong momentum in the ongoing December quarter.
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
