Mumbai, Aug 22 : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Monday closed 200 points higher as traders bought into stocks which fell during the recent sell-off.

Analysts also attributed the rise to some amount of short covering as the futures contract for the month is set to expire Thursday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,155.99 points, closed at 16,341.7 points -- up 200.03 points or 1.24 percent compared to its previous close at 16,141.67 points.

The Sensex had moved to an intra-day high of 16,370.46 points, but later slipped.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 1.1 percent or 53.15 points up at 4,898.8 points.

Broader markets too saw stocks rising after a quiet opening session. The BSE midcap index closed 1.25 percent up and the BSE smallcap index moved up 1.54 percent.

The market breadth at the BSE was positive with 1,803 stocks moving up, compared to 1,018 on the decline and 101 remaining unchanged.

IT stocks were among the biggest losers, while some weakness was seen in banking scrips. Oil and gas, power and metal stocks were among major gainers.

Foreign institutional investors were, however, net sellers having offloaded stocks worth $280.88 million Monday, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Among gainers on the Sensex were: Jaiprakash Associates, up 5.38 percent at Rs. 62.70; ONGC, up 3.99 percent at Rs. 286.75; Wipro, up 3.74 percent at Rs. 332.50 and Tata Power, up 3.6 percent at Rs. 1,090.70.

Main losers included: DLF, down 2.25 percent at Rs. 182.70; HDFC Bank, down 2 percent at Rs. 452.70; Infosys, down 1.41 percent at Rs. 2,194.05 and TCS, down 1.24 percent at Rs. 918.30.

Concerns of global economic growth declining continued to fuel selling sentiments at Asian markets.

The benchmark Japanese Nikkei closed 1.04 percent lower at 8,628.13 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index moved 0.73 percent down to end at 2,515.86 points.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading 0.45 percent down at 19,486.87 points.

European markets rose after a weak start Monday on some decent corporate earnings results.

The FTSE 100 of UK was ruling 1.7 percent higher at 5,126.36 points, while the German DAX was down 0.34 percent at 5,498.77 points.

The French CAC 40 was up 1.36 percent at 3,057.97 points.(IANS)