Mumbai, April 1 (Inditop.com) Indian equities began trading on the first day of the new fiscal on a firm note, with a key market index up nearly 100 points within an hour of trading Thursday, backed by strong cues from other Asian markets.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 17,555.04 points against the previous close at 17,527.77 points and rose to a high of 17,654.79 points soon after.

An hour into trading, the index was ruling at 17,625.65 points, with a gain of 97.88 points, or 0.56 percent.

Twenty-two of the 30 Sensex scrips were in the positive territory, seven ruling lower and one was unchanged. This apart, all the 13 sector-specific indices were trading in the green, led by those for consumer durables, information technology and capital goods.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader S&P CNX Nifty, a basket of 50 shares, was ruling at 5275.40 points, with a gain of 26.30 points, or 0.50 percent.