The 30-share index Sensex gained further ground as heavy buying action was witnessed across board.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap surged 0.93 % and 0.85% respectively.

At 1:57 p.m., the BSE Sensex, which had tumbled to 14,992.97 earlier in the day, gained 206.52 points at 15,280.06, while NSE Nifty stood at 4,577.45, up 59.90 points.

IT, banking and realty stocks, which turned a bit easy after a quite positive show earlier this morning, recovered strongly on account of good buying action.

Indian stock markets traded positive all through the day, on Wednesday (August 6), gaining 159.17 points, during morning trade to touch a high of 15,422.82 but sank phenomenally by 349.28 points towards closing session.

Good buying activity was witnessed in sectors including Auto, Capital Goods and IT, whereas Healthcare, Realty and Power indices saw selling rally.

BSE Midcap gained 0.20%, whereas Smallcap index closed negatively after declining 0.68%.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday as investors sold shares to lock in profits from previous day's gains.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which gained more than 2 per cent the previous day, ended morning trading at 13,093.89, down 161 points, or 1.21 per cent.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 19.89 points, or 1.56 per cent, at 1,257.38.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.47-52 yen, up from Wednesday 5 pm quote of 108.32-33 yen.

Taipei - The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp will change its initials from TSEC to TWSE starting next week to avoid being confused with several foreign bourses that have the same initials, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The website of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp will also be changed on Monday to www. twse. com. tw, but the current web address will continue to function for six months, the Taipei Times said.

New York - Wall Street stock indices climbed on Wednesday as positive technology and mining-sector news eclipsed a poor earnings report from mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Cisco Systems Inc, the largest producer of networking equipment, reported fourth-quarter profits that were slightly better than expected while revenue had come in above 10 billion dollars for the first time.

Microsoft Corp improved after a UBS AG analyst predicted the software giant was preparing to buy back 20 billion dollars in stock over the coming thee months.

Seoul - Shares jumped 2.8 per cent Wednesday on the