Sensex above 25,000-mark; Nifty at record high (Roundup)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets rose 213.68 points or 0.86 percent Thursday, closing for the first time above the 25,000-mark on strong buying in metal, oil and gas and capital goods stocks.

The Nifty also closed at a new high.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 24,828.38 points, ended trade at 25,019.51 points, up 213.68 points or 0.86 percent from the previous day's close at 24,805.83 point.

The Sensex touched a high of 25,044.06 points and a low of 24,644.88 points during the trade so far.

The S&P BSE metal index gained 443.07 points, oil and gas index rose 220.14 points, capital goods index was up 161.85 points, automobile index was higher by 114.69 points, information technology (IT) rose 107.36 points and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG)index was higher by 100.69 points.

The S&P BSE bank index was down 69.04 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended trade up one percent. It was trading 71.85 points or 0.97 percent up at 7,474.10 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Sesa Sterlite, up 6.50 percent at Rs.314.45; Hindalco Inds, up 5.54 percent at Rs.169.45; Hindustan Unilever, up 4.37 percent at Rs.631.20; Tata Power, up 3.64 percent at Rs.109.70; and Tata Steel, up 3.45 percent at Rs.555.10.

The main losers were: Mahindra and Mahindra, down 1.46 percent at Rs.1,199.35; HDFC Bank, down 1.43 percent at Rs.804.90; Cipla, down 0.87 percent at Rs.387; DrReddys Lab, down 0.74 percent at Rs.2,308.05; and ICICI Bank, down 0.56 percent at Rs.1,460.95.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.08 percent up. While China's Shanghai Composite Index was higher by 0.79 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.18 percent down.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.27 percent down and Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.08 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.15 percent at the closing bell here.