By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets rose further in afternoon trade Monday with blue chip firms RIL and ICICI Bank leading the gainers pack.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,230.34 points, was ruling at 19,377.29 points, up 240.68 points or 1.26 percent from its previous close at 19,136.61 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was trading at 5,816.75 points, up 1.1 percent.
However, broader markets were in the red, with the BSE midcap index ruling 0.16 percent down and the BSE smallcap index trading 0.29 percent lower.
Among Sensex gainers were BHEL, RIL, ICICI Bank and Wipro, while major losers included Reliance Infra, Reliance Com, ACC and ITC.
Energy, IT and banking stocks saw healthy buys while consumer durables were trading on the lower side.
The market breadth was negative, with only 1,205 stocks advancing, compared to 1,639 scrips on the decline, while 85 stocks were unchanged.
Other Asian markets were trading mixed with investors concerned over the continuation of tensions between North Korea and South Korea and worries over bulging sovereign debt of some European companies.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was trading 0.6 percent higher at 23,015.12 points, while the Shanghai Composite index was ruling 0.19 percent down at 2,866.36 points.
The Japanese Nikkei closed 0.86 percent higher at 10,125.99 points.