The Sensex, which crossed the 4,300-levels in the late morning deals and remained range-bound till mid-afternoon, rallied sharply towards the closing stages on aggressive buying in heavyweights, cement and other select old and new economy stocks, finally to finish with a huge gain of 80 points at 4,325. The Nifty advanced 20 points to close at 1,376.
Heavyweights fuelled the rally towards the closing stages. ITC remained firm on sustained buying support, and moved up nearly 3% (Rs 24) at Rs 856. While Reliance rallied sharply towards the fag-end to close at Rs 412 (up 3% or Rs 14), HLL also rose 3% (Rs 5) to close at Rs 190.
Cement pivotals ended with steep gains. Grasim (up 3% or Rs 19 to Rs 638), Gujarat Ambuja (up 4% or Rs 10 to Rs 240), L&T (up 5% or Rs 15 to Rs 304) and ACC (up 2% or Rs 5 to Rs 217) ended with impressive gains.
Tech majors largely finished with gains. Satyam at Rs 236 (up Rs 10 or 4%) and HCL Tech at Rs 189 (up Rs 6 or 3%) garnered smart gains. Infosys, however, exhibited weakness on selling pressure, and was down a per cent (Rs 41) at Rs 3,869.
PSU frontliners ended on a mixed note. MTNL, on a late bout of buying, firmed up 5% (Rs 6) to close at Rs 129. BHEL traded on a steady note, and added Rs 3 to Rs 354. HPCL, however, remained lacklustre through the trading session, and lost nearly 3% (Rs 11) at Rs 418. SBI also was down Rs 2 at Rs 438.
Pharma and auto stocks displayed mixed trends.