The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 35 points at 12,388, but soon slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 12,315. The index thereafter swung in and out of the positive zone as both bulls and bears fought to take the initiative.
The bulls took the charge by mid-noon deals and heavy buying in technology, metal and oil & gas stocks saw the index rally to higher levels. The index touched a high of 12,557 - up 242 points from the day's low.
The Sensex finally settled with a gain of 184 points at 12,538.