By IANS,
Mumbai : Key indices of the Indian equities markets, buoyed by renewed buying interest and stable markets elsewhere in Asia, closed at their highest levels in 15 months Monday.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 15,739.27 points, closed at 16,016.32 points, up 327.2 points or 2.09 percent higher than Friday’s close.
The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, hit a 15-month high to end at 4,782.9 points, up 2.19 percent.
Both the Sensex and the Nifty closed above their June 2008 levels.
Broader market indices also fared well, with the BSE midcap index ending 2.31 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index up 2.83 percent.
The market breadth was positive, with 2,243 stocks advancing, 589 declining and 53 remaining unchanged.
Among the gainers were Tata Motors, up 11.32 percent at Rs.565.75; Reliance Communications, up 6.62 percent at Rs.311.60; ICICI Bank, up 6.01 percent at Rs.788.60; and Jaiprakash Associates, up 5.99 percent at Rs.230.75.
There were only two losers: ITC, down 0.92 percent at Rs.231; and M&M, down 0.53 percent at Rs.859.35.
Other important Asian markets also closed in the green.
The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 133.83 points or 1.31 percent lower at 10,320.94 points.
At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the benchmark SSE composite ended 0.68 percent up at 2,881.12 points.
The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, was also in the green at 20,629.31 points, up 310.69 points or 1.53 percent.
European exchanges, which opened in the positive, were similarly ruling firm.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index was ruling 1.49 percent higher at 4,923.83 points, while its French peer, the CAC 40, was up 1.38 percent at 3,648.27 points.
Germany’s DAX was ruling in the positive at 5,460.6 points, up 1.41 percent.