Heavy buying towards the closing bell saw the Sensex rally to an intra-day high of 5,484. The index finally closed with a gain of 58 points (1.1%) at 5,478. The Nifty finished at 1,706 - up 23 points.
ITC surged 4.7% (Rs 52) to towards the close to finish at Rs 1,142. While Reliance gained Rs 3 at Rs 491, HLL was unchanged at Rs 124.
Technology stocks exhibited a mixed trend. Satyam and Wipro rebounded and ended in positive zone, while the former was up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 387, the latter finished Rs 2 higher at Rs 590. Infosys, however, was subdued and closed Rs 7 lower at Rs 1,695.
MTNL soared nearly 7% (Rs 8) to Rs 128, owing to heavy buying in the mid-noon deals following the news that the Government had appointed advisors to work on MTNL, BSNL merger.
Other PSU stocks also witnessed fresh buying. SBI advanced over 2% (Rs 10) to Rs 465. ONGC rallied 2.4% (Rs 17) to Rs 730, and HPCL was up 1.4% (Rs 5) at Rs 324.
HDFC declined 1.5% (Rs 10) to Rs 607.
Tisco spurted 3% (Rs 8) to Rs 273, and Hindalco rallied 2.5% (Rs 30) to Rs 1,231.
Ranbaxy surged over a per cent (Rs 14) to Rs 1,088. Dr.Reddy's rallied a per cent (Rs 8) to Rs 759. Cipla, however, lost a rupee at Rs 270.
Zee zoomed nearly 3% (Rs 4) to Rs 155, and Bharti Tele was up 1.6% at Rs 146.
Auto stocks were lacklusture for major part of the day, however, late buying saw them finish with gains today. Bajaj Auto finished almost a per cent (Rs 8) higher at Rs 932. Tata Motors moved up Rs 3 to Rs 389, and Hero Honda was up Rs 2 at Rs 459. Maruti, however, finished flat at Rs 355.