Sensex ends up 561pts at 17,861

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 138 points at 17,467. Steady buying, thereafter, saw the index rally to newer highs as the day progressed. The index touched a fresh all-time intra-day high of 17,953 - just 47 points shy of another milestone of 18,000.

However, a sudden bout of profit-taking at higher levels saw the index slip into red to a low of 17,288 - down 665 points from the peak. The index soon rebounded into the positive zone and recovered most of its lost ground to end (provisional) at 17,890 - up 561 points.