Mumbai, Sep 4 - Metals, auto and capital goods stocks sent a key index of the Indian equities markets soaring in afternoon trade Friday to around 255 points higher than its last closing figure about 80 minutes before end of trade.

At 2.12 p.m., the 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened at 15,425.86 points, was at 15,632.19 points -- 254.86 points or 1.66 percent higher than Thursday's close of 15,398.33 points.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, was trading in the positive terrain at 4,671.8 points, up 1.7 percent.

Broader market indices were also in the green, with the BSE midcap index trading 1.05 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index moving up 1.17 percent.

All 13 sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in the positive, with those for auto, realty and metal stocks gaining the most.

The market breadth was tilted towards the positive, with 1,540 stocks on the rise, compared to 1,101 on the decline, and 109 remaining unchanged.