Mumbai, Oct 29 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed Wednesday's trade up 217.35 points (provisional) or 0.81 percent as auto stocks surged.

Good buying was observed in auto, metal, IT, oil and gas and consumer durables sectors, while selling pressure was seen in banking sector.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 27,017.44 points, closed the day's trade 27,098.17 points (provisional), up 217.35 points or 0.81 percent from the previous day's close at 26,880.82 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,126.30 points and a low of 26,971.16 points in intra-day trade.

The S&P auto index surged by 320.50 points, metal index gained by 296.79 points, IT index got augmented by 148.83 points, oil and gas index moved up by 126.78 points and consumer durables index inched up by 101.88 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed trade up 62.85 points or 0.78 percent at 8,090.45 points.