NEW DELHI: Saluting Narendra Modi government's three years in office, the domestic equity benchmark indices scaled fresh lifetime high on Friday amid firm global and domestic cues.The S&P BSE Sensex scripted history as it breached the 31,000 mark for the first time ever.The 30-share index of BSE rallied 278 points to settle at 31,028.21 with Tata Steel being the top gainer. The benchmark index, which opened at 30,765.77 against the previous close of 30,750.03, witnessed a 328-point swing during the session.FMCG major ITC, Reliance Industries and Infosys were the major contributors to the surge. Sun Pharma ended as the worst laggard on the index.The broader Nifty50 of National Stock Exchange, too, followed the suit and hit yet another milestone of 9,600. It rallied 85 points to close at 9,595 with 37 constituents in the positive zone.The headline index took 50 sessions to advance from 9,000 to 9,600 level.Hindustan Unilever (up 14.4 per cent), Eicher Motors (up 19.1 per cent), Maruti (up 14.9 per cent), Indian Oil (up 13.6 per cent) and Bharti Infratel (up 23.8 per cent) emerged as some of the major contributors to the Nifty's journey from 9,000 to 9,600.Nifty Bank also hit fresh record high of 23,362."I think there can be more upside in the indices because we saw a decent correction in midcaps and that is where the froth was building up. But post that correction, now you are getting this renewed interest; yesterday’s rally plus today’s follow-up rally is giving a possibility of higher levels," says Neeraj Dewan of Quantum Securities.Metals emerged as the top sectoral gainer with S&P BSE Metal index rallying 3.40 per cent to end at 11,413.44. Tata Steel, Hindalco and Vedanta contributed the most to the rise in the index.Among individual stocks, shares of 3M India surged as much as 9.76 per cent after the company reported 40.55 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 90.39 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 against Rs 64.31 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The scrip closed at Rs 14,029.90, up 7.71 per cent.Shares of Tata Steel hit a 2.5-year high in Friday trade amid media reports suggesting that the merger of Tata Steel’s European business' with German industrial group Thyssenkrupp AG may lead to potential savings anywhere in 400-600 million euros. The stock closed at Rs 511.80, up 5.46 per cent.Dalal Street maven Porinju Veliyath said, "The three years of Modi government that has been a wonderful development for India and it has really created a base for Indian economy to grow at much faster rate for faster economic development. I think there is a long way to and I am extremely bullish on equity investing in India."Going by the buzz on Dalal Street, here are the top five factors that fuelled market rally today:Robust inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPI) to equities and debt have been supporting the domestic markets in May. FIIs and DIIs have poured Rs 8,218 crore and Rs 15,976 crore in equity and debt, respectively, so far in May. Their total net investment in equities and debt stood at Rs 15,862 crore, Rs 56,261 crore and Rs 22,758 crore in February, March and April, respectively.Financial results so far for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 remained in line with expectations. Mahesh Patil, Co-CIO, Birla Sun Life MF in a chat with ETNow said, “There have been some disappointments but by and large earnings have been pretty much okay.”Shibani Sircar Kurian, VP & Head - Equity Research, Kotak MF said, “If you look at the earnings numbers and the companies that have reported so far there has not been any kind of significant disappointment in any pocket. We need to focus on is possibly the pace at which earnings upgrades move vis-à-vis earnings downgrades. And the trend has been fairly positive so far.”With chances of a continuation of the El Nino effect, a phenomenon associated with warming of Pacific waters, the IMD has predicted a normal monsoon this year. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the onset of the monsoon in Kerala on May 30 this year, but the seasonal rainfall may arrive a day before.Minutes from the US Fed’s last policy meeting showed the policymakers agreed they should hold off on raising interest rates until they were clear that the recent US economic slowdown was temporary, though most said a hike was coming soon. Firm global cues further supported domestic equity markets on Friday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record closing highs on Thursday, with the market propped up by gains in the consumer discretionary sector after strong reports from Best Buy and other retailers.Unless forward curve depicts global inventories are reducing to tilt towards five-Year average, there will not be much benefit coming out of Opec’s efforts and WTI crude oil prices will continue its ping-pong between $42 and $55.5 band. Right now, prices are looking to reach towards $45 or lower band value on Opec’s disappointment, surging US production and higher inventories.