Sensex spurts by 239.94 points; Nifty up by 66.95 pts

Mumbai, Mar 21 (UNI) The Sensex today zoomed up by 239.94 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to close at 12,945.88 amid frenzied buying in Banking scrips and positive global cues.

Among the broader markets, the Nifty Index also shot up by 66.95 points and settled at 3,764.55 from its previous close of 3,697.60 points.

''The market advanced throughout the day, except the odd blip in early afternoon trade. Today is the third consecutive day in the week wherein the markets have ended on a bullish note, an indication of the extent to which the Indian economy has integrated to the world economy,'' a market analyst observed.

The benchmark index saw sporadic buying in the fag hours of the day's trade, and had also surged to a high of 12,964.94, helped by strong purchases in index pivotals. The Sensex opened positive, at 12,735.91, but had soon slipped into the red at 12,664.33.

The market-breadth turned negative after a strong opening. On the BSE, 1,376 shares declined while 1,153 advanced and 99 remained unchanged.

Among the 30-Sensex pack, 24 advanced while the rest declined, brokers said.

All European indices were trading with gains, and most Asian ones had ended with gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.86 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.90 per cent.

Among US stocks, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 61.93 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 12,288.10. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index closed 8.88 points, or 0.63 per cent, in front at 1,410.94.

The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 13.80 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 2,408.21.

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