Sensex closes 239 points higher;

Mumbai, Apr 9 The BSE benchmark Sensex finished about 239 points higher Tuesday on sustained buying in banking and auto stocks towards the fag-end of the session in front of the earnings season.

After swinging more than 350 points, the 30-share Sensex list settled 238.69 points, or 0.62 percent, higher at 38,939.22.

In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty rose 67.45 points, or 0.58 percent, to 11,671.95.

After a highly volatile session, the market surged towards the fag-end of the exchange with BSE bankex, auto, realty and metal records picking up to 1.40 percent.

Yes Bank was the greatest gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 4.08 percent, followed by Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, HCL Tech, Vedanta, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Maruti, ITC, IndusInd Bank, TCS, HUL and SBI, rising up to 2.67 percent.

Then again, Asian Paints, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and ONGC were the failures, shedding up to 3.54 percent.

Foreign institutional speculators (FIIs) purchased Rs 329.60 crore Monday, while household institutional financial specialists (DIIs) sold values to the tune of Rs 623.81 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

In Asia, Korea's Kospi rose 0.13 percent, Japan's Nikkei crawled up 0.19 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased 0.27 percent, while Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.16 percent.

In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.18 percent, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.35 percent, and London's FTSE increased 0.30 percent in early deals.

The benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.13 percent higher at USD 71.19 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 25 paise to 69.41 against the US dollar intra-day.