The benchmark index of the Indian equities market closed higher on Thursday with the 30-scrip sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, surging more than 380 points, as sentiment turned bullish after the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US Fed will continue with the stimulus programme. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 19,676.06 points, 381.94 points or 1.98 percent up from the previous close of 19,294.12 points. The Sensex had a turnover of 4.12 billion rupees (about 68.63 million U.S. dollars).