The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,397.98 points, closed at 19,391.86 points, up 43.74 points or 0.23 percent from its previous close at 19,348.12 points.
The index touched a high of 19,463.25 points and low of 19,371.01 points intra-day. The BSE midcap index was up 32.44 points, while the smallcap index was higher by 38.90 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also was up 11.25 points or 0.19 percent at 5,900.50 points.
The BSE metals index went up 167.65 points. And so did the bank index, up 93.50 points; oil and gas index, up 62.21 points; realty index, up 57.49 points; and capital goods index, up 55.93 points.
However, the information technology (IT) index was down 71.28 points, while the media, entertainment and communication (TECk) index closed 32.65 points lower. The power index and healthcare index were also down 9.24 points and 8.13 points respectively.
Among the gainers were Sterlite Inds, up 5.37 percent at Rs.112.80; Hindalco Inds, up 3.38 percent at Rs.120.85; Tata Steel, up 2.13 percent at Rs.397.65; State Bank of India (SBI), up 1.38 percent at Rs.2,269.20; and Tata Motors, up 1.33 percent at Rs.274.90.
The major losers were Tata Power, 3.67 percent lower at Rs.107.65; Infosys, down 1.93 points at Rs.2,382.30; Wipro, down 1.83 percent at Rs.381.00; Bajaj Auto, down 1.51 percent at Rs.1,926.85; and Mahindra and Mahindra, down 0.94 percent at Rs.930.10.
Other Asian markets also ended the day higher. Japan's Nikkei increased 0.39 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 2.16 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index closed 2.87 percent higher.
At closing bell, major European markets were trading flat. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.28 percent, while the German DAX was trading higher by 0.27 percent. The French CAC 40 index was also up 0.37 percent.
