Nifty surges past 8,000 to record high

MUMBAI, Sept 1 (Reuters): The Nifty surged past the psychologically important 8,000 level for the first time on Monday as blue-chips such as ICICI Bank gained after better-than-expected quarterly economic growth data.

Data showing India's economy grew a faster-than-expected 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter has reinforced hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election victory nearly four months ago will help spark a recovery in investments and confidence.

Resources firms rallied late in the session after the attorney general proposed to the supreme court that about 40 of the 218 coal mines it declared illegal should not be taken back from the companies that operate them as they were either producing or were close to producing.

The BSE Sensex rose as much as 1 per cent to its second consecutive record high at 26,900.30.

Foreign investors, key drivers of the market rally this year, have bought shares worth $13 billion in 2014 so far.