Sensex rises 232 points to close at 31,685.75; Nifty ends above 9,270

New Delhi: After a negative opening, markets ended on a higher note on Wednesday led by gains in banking, finance and auto stocks.

The BSE 232.24 points or 0.74 per cent higher at 31,685.75. On the other hand the NSE Nifty rose 65.30 points, or 0.71 per cent, to settle at 9,270.90.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were M&M , Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Ultrachem, Tata Steel and tech Mahindra, rising upto 5.27 percent.

On the other hand, ITC, HUL, TCS, Infosys, Titan, Nestle, Asian Paints, SunPharma, Axis Bank and HCL Tech were the major losers, falling upto  5.81 percent.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 9 paise to close at 75.72 against the US dollar.