The country?s equity indices surged to their three-week high in the wake of buoyancy in Asian and European markets.

This is the sixth time the domestic benchmark indices have gained in the last seven days. The BSE Sensex closed above the psychological 17,000 level for the first time since May 13.

?We are following the global markets at this point,? said Dinesh Dalmia, director, Yashwi Securities. ?The stake sale buzz in sectors like telecom as well buyback and open offers in sectors like capital goods (ABB) and FMCG (Colgate) is also holding up the market.? More open offers mean the promoters are increasing their stake and expect their sector to perform better.

The BSE Sensex rose 280.4 points or 1.68% to close at 17,022 while the NSE Nifty zoomed 90.6 points or 1.81% to 5110.5. The Sensex opened near the 17,000-mark tracking gains in Asian stocks and the US market which ended higher last night. It then breached the psychological 17,000 level in morning trade. The market hung on to its gains, hitting fresh intra-day highs in early afternoon trade and saw range-bound movement during the last one hour of trade.

According to BSE?s provisional estimates, FIIs were net buyers of Rs 406 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 79 crore.

European stocks rose for the fourth day on reports that indicate the recovery in the American economy is broadening. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 1.9% to 250.06, climbing above the 200-day moving average for the first time in more than two weeks.

Asian stocks rose, driving up the MSCI Asia Pacific Index by the most since February, as buoyant US car and home sales improved prospects of further sale of Asian-made products.