New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS): A benchmark index of the Indian equities market Friday closed 164 points up, as bank, capital goods stocks rose.

The 30-scrip sensitive (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,600.58 points, closed at 20,700.75 points, up 164.11 points or 0.80 percent from its previous day's close of 20,536.64 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,725.04 points and a low of 20,599.91 points in the day's trade.

“Markets closed higher Friday on supportive global cues. The mid cap index was more active with buying seen in several of its constituents," said Dipen Shah of Kotak Securities.

The S&P BSE bank index was up 137.78 points, followed by capital goods index, up 120.72 points, information technology (IT) index, up 110.84 points, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index, up 75.84 points, and metal index, up 75.56 point.

The realty index was, however, down 1.23 points.

The wider 50-scrip NIFTY of the national stock exchange (NSE) closed the day's trade up 64 points or 1.05 percent at 6,155.45 points.

The prominent Sensex gainers were Axis Bank, up 2.85 percent at Rs.1,189.75; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 1.89 percent at Rs.1,051.60; ITC, up 1.83 percent at Rs.317.50; Tata Steel, up 1.80 percent at Rs.373.90; and ICICI Bank, up 1.62 percent at Rs.1,024.75.

The major losers included Bharti Airtel, down 2.91 percent at Rs.288.20; Sun Pharma, down 0.82 percent at Rs.614.30; Maruti Suzuki, down 0.52 percent at Rs.1,674.65; Cipla, down 0.51 percent at Rs.369.30; and Hero MotoCorp, down 0.51 percent at Rs.1,918.35.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 2.88 percent up and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.78 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index ended lower by 1.17 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.19 percent up, while Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.01 percent. The French CAC 40 Index increased 0.20 percent.

Watch Video