Mumbai, Dec 1 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities Thursday pared some of its gains to provisionally close 334 points higher.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,555.93 points, closed at 16,458.12 points (provisional), 334.66 points or 2.08 percent up from its previous close at 16,123.46 points.

It had risen almost 595 points to an intra-day high of 16,718.11 points in early trade.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also closed in the green at 4,930.7 points, up 2.04 percent or 98.65 points from its previous close.

Broader markets also closed in the positive with the BSE 500 index moving up 1.6 percent. The BSE midcap index closed 0.87 percent up while the BSE smallcap index gained 0.36 percent.