By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets were on the upswing early Thursday after opening in the green, thanks to strong buying interest in banking, realty, cement, metals, capital goods and telecom stocks. Other Asian markets were up as well, and the Dow had closed in the green Wednesday.
The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, opened with a gain 106.54 points at 17,084.89, and rose to 17,166.59 within 20 minutes.
The tempo continued during initial trading, and the Sensex touched 17,198.71, a gain of 220.36 points or 1.30 percent. All major sectoral indices were in the positive zone, with high demand for banking, capital goods, realty and metal stocks.
The S&P Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 5,075.85, gaining 64.35 points or 1.28 percent.
The market breadth was strong on BSE. While 1,309 shares advanced, 333 declined and 39 remained unchanged.
Infosys, ICICI, Larsen & Toubro and ACC were among the early gainers while Satyam, Ranbaxy Labs, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco were among the initial losers on the BSE.
Other Asian markets were trading higher. Shanghai Composite was up 27.02 points or 0.74 percent at 3,684.45. Hang Seng rose 87.61 points or 0.34 percent at 25,621.09. Nikkei 225 Average rose 144.86 points or 1.03 percent at 14,263.41. Jakarta Composite was up 0.59 points or 0.02 percent at 2,449.93. Straits Times rose 13.64 points or 0.43 percent at 3,212.15. Seoul Composite gained 29.05 points or 1.58 percent at 1,872.80. Taiwan Weighted was up 84.42 points or 0.94 percent at 9,102.84.