Mumbai, Nov 5 (IANS): During an hour-long trading Thursday, befitting Diwali, a key stock market index ended at an all-time high above the 21,000-point mark, ushering New Year for a section of the investing community with a bang.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened strong at 21,045.66 points, against the previous day's close at 20,893.57 and rose to an all-time high of 21,108.64 points.

At closing bell at 7 pm, after the hour-long session - called Muhurat Trading - the 30-share index stood at 21,004.96 points, also an all-time closing, thus starting the New Year, Samvat 2067, with a gain of 111.39 points, or 0.53 percent.

Over the past year, the index has risen 4,941.06 points, or 30.76 percent.

Among the 30 shares that go into the basket of Sensex scrips, 27 of them advanced Thursday while only three - Jindal Power, Tata Power and Larsen and Toubro - ended in the red.

The gainers were led by Jaiprakash Associates, Hindalco and Mahindra and Mahindra.

A special session to pay obeisance to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, was also held at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), where the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty climbed 30.60 points, to close at 6,312.45 points.