Mumbai: Extending the gains for the fourth day in a row today, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex closed higher by over 250 points to regain the key 14,000 level after nearly a month.

Marketmen said the trading sentiment turned stronger at mid-way after Finance Minister P Chidambaram's comments in Parliament that the economy grew at an estimated 9.1 per cent in 2007-08.

The 30-share BSE barometer, which had gained 1275 points in the past three sessions, today added another 254.16 points at 14,104.20. The Sensex touched the day s high of 14,206.13 and dipped to a low of 13,798.18 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty jumped by 80.60 points at 4,240.10,after rising to a high of 4,262.45 and a low of 4,137.95 points during the day.

Chidambaram participating in the debate on confidence vote in Parliament highlighted the record production figures of wheat, rice, pulses, oil seeds and coarse cereals and termed the 2007-08 as a watershed year for agriculture.

The Sensex rose by over 250 points mainly riding on the back of a surge in FMCG and power stocks. The indices of these sectors closed higher by 4.35 per cent and 4.29 per cent respectively.

The metal sector index gained by 466.21 points at 12,232.45 as sector majors Sesa Goa, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and SAIL recorded  handsome gains on fresh buying. Capital goods sector index saw a gain of 343.44 points at 11,406.30 as stocks of Larsen and Toubro, Seimens, BHEL, Areva, Punj Llyod and Bharat Electricals rose on agressive buying.

Banking index shot up by 200.27 points at 6628.98, supported by a steep rise in stocks of Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

PSU sector index rose by 155.45 points at 6365.49, Power index by 103.44 pints at 2512.68, FMCG index by 88.28 points at 2117.94, Information Technology index by 67.51 points at 3647.92, Oil and Gas index by 73.15 points at 9382.31, Teck index by 43.15 points at 2933.57, consumer durables index 57.46 points at 3518.84 and Healthcare index by 29.10 points at 4140.83.

However, auto index fell by 35.10 points at 3628.06 as some leading auto manufacturs fear the sale of cars might fall on high lending rates, and give a negative impact on profit earnings. Small-cap index rose by 98.44 points at 6536.42 and midcap index by 89.04 points at 5346.03.

Source : PTI