Mumbai, Aug 20 - Indian equities markets made a strong start Thursday with a key index soaring 252 points within five minutes of the opening bell.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 14,930.05 points, as against Wednesday's close at 14,809.64 points. It rose to 15,062.07 points, 252.43 or 1.7 percent up, within five minutes of trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too was trading in the positive terrain at 4,465.35 points, a gain of 1.62 percent.

Broader market indices were also in the green with the BSE midcap index up 1.26 percent, and the BSE smallcap index ruling 1.01 percent higher.