Hero MotoCorp was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares.

Indian equity benchmarks ended at record high levels with the S&P BSE Sensex closing above 40,000 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index ending above 12,000-mark for the first time. The equity markets rose on the hopes of interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India after India's economic growth slowed to 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of financial year 2018-19, losing its position as fastest growing major economy to China in one-and-a-half years, analysts said. The Sensex surged as much as 595 points to an all-time high of 40,308.90 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 180 points to record high of 12,103.

The Sensex surged 553 points or 1.4 per cent to close at record closing high of 40,268 and NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed 166 points or 1.4 per cent to end at an all-time closing high of 12,089.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will cut interest rates at a third consecutive meeting in June, according to a Reuters poll of economists who were split over whether it should.

Under Governor Shaktikanta Das, who took over as RBI governor from Urjit Patel in December last year, the central bank delivered rate cuts at its previous two meetings, in February and April.

Buying was visible across the board as all the 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Auto Index's 1.9 per cent gain.

Consumer Goods, Energy, Finance, Healthcare, Information Technology, Metal and Realty sector gauges also rose over a per cent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as the S&P BSE MidCap Index rose 0.9 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index advanced 0.5 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 6 per cent to Rs 2,835 after it reported vehicle sales on Sunday.

Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Coal India and Reliance Industries also rose between 2.5 and 3. per cent each.

On the other hand, GAIL, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, NTPC and Bharti Infratel were among the notable losers.

(With inputs from Reuters)