The Nifty surged over the 5,000-points mark in early trade, on aggressive buying by foreign and domestic funds, while the BSE benchmark Sensex regained its 17,000-point level.

                                                     The Sensex story: From 1K to 17K!

After the 30-share index, Sensex, set a record on Wednesday by crossing the 17,000 mark, Nifty also joined the rally by surging to record level by gaining 75.05 point at 5015.55 in the first five minutes of trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange benchmark, Nifty, took 52 days to move from 4,500-5000 level and 203 days to move from 4000-5000.

The rally in the bourses was backed by blue chip stocks such as Reliance [Get Quote] group, Bharti Tele and capital good stocks.

Support also came in from firming global markets. Marketmen said firming US Dow Jones Industrial index and Nasdaq and Asian stocks boosted the trading sentiment.

Hong Kong market index Hang Seng surged above the psychological 27,000-point mark in the morning trade, as Wall Street gains and fund inflows pushed the market further into record territory.