Sensex closes 284 points up; bank stocks gain

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets provisionally closed Friday's trade 284 points or 0.99 percent up.

Healthy buying was observed in banking, healthcare, automobile, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and metal sectors while oil and gas and realty scrips came under selling pressure.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 28,888.99 points, closed the day's trade at 29,089.32 points (3.30 p.m.), up 284.22 points or 0.99 percent from the previous day's close at 28,805.10 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 29,154.67 points and a low of 28,835.70 points in the intra-day trade.

The S&P BSE banking index gained 268.04 points, healthcare soared by 219.38 points, auto index increased 214.72 points, FMCG index got augmented by 154.63 points and metal index moved up by 121.13 points.

However, oil and gas index fell 18.54 points and realty index was down 16.79 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed the trade with healthy gains. It was up 93.95 points or 1.08 percent up at 8,805.50 points.