Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS): A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed trade Wednesday 117.34 points or 0.44 percent up as auto stocks surged.

Healthy buying was observed in auto, banking, IT and oil and gas sectors, while marginal selling pressure was seen in metal and realty sectors.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,553.24 points, closed at 26,560.15 points, up 117.34 points or 0.44 percent from the previous day's close at 26,442.81 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 26,599.12 points and a low of 26,492.50 points in the intra-day.

The S&P BSE auto index gained by 139.02 points, bankex went up by 94.27 points, IT index got augmented by 75.49 points and oil and gas index inched up by 92.23 points. However, metal index dropped by 25.89 points and realty index went down by 24.04 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed the day's trade 31.30 points or 0.40 percent up at 7,936.05 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: ONGC, up 2.31 percent at Rs.427.75; ICICI Bank, up 2.05 percent at Rs.1,540.95; Tata Motors, up 1.70 percent at Rs.521.60; Hero MotoCorp, up 1.61 percent at Rs.2,604.90; and Wipro, up 1.19 percent at Rs.557.65.

The losers were: Sesa Sterlite, down 1.67 percent at Rs.276.55; BHEL, down 1.29 percent at Rs.229.20; NTPC, down 1.17 percent at Rs.139.35; HDFC Bank, down 0.70 percent at Rs.836.60; and Tata Steel, down 0.41 percent at Rs.522.85.

In Asian markets, Nikkei closed 0.09 percent up, while Hong Kong's Hang Sang closed 0.62 percent lower, while China's Shanghai Composite index higher by 0.11 percent.

In Europe, however, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.03 percent, Germany's DAX Index was 0.12 percent lower and France's CAC 40 was down by 0.06 percent.