Indian stock markets closed sharply higher on October 6, helped by broad-based buying. The Sensex settled 685 points higher while the Nifty 50 rose 220 points. At 3 pm, the Sensex was up 491 points at 72,873.85 and the Nifty up 142.55 points at 22,698.30, before gains extended into the close. Trent led the Nifty gainers, surging 12.34 percent. BSE and Kotak Mahindra Bank each rose 3.71 percent, while Nestle gained 2.97 percent and HUL added 2.83 percent. On the losing side, Coal India fell 3.22 percent and Tech Mahindra dropped 2.52 percent. Max Healthcare, ITC and Bajaj Finance also ended lower. IT, realty and PSU bank stocks finished in the red even as the benchmarks climbed. Sona BLW ended 3 percent higher at Rs 819.20 after ending its Chennai captive solar project with Cleantech. Capacite Infraprojects rose over 3 percent to Rs 184.60 on a Rs 368.98 crore Chennai Metro order. Foreign investors sold equities worth Rs 4,699.14 crore on Monday, exchange data showed. Brent crude traded near $100.60 a barrel.