Though the 30-share barometer resumed better, it was trading in a narrow range. But a sudden spurt of buying at the fag-end pushed it up by 194.18 points, or 1.10 per cent to 17,885.26, the highest closing level since March 14.
Sterlite Industries, NTPC, HDFC, HUL, Tata Motors, L&T and attracted good buying and helped the Sensex move up.
In all, 12 out of 13 sectoral indices closed with gains, with IT, power, teck, realty and auto segments being at the forefront. Only BSE-Healthcare index ended with a minor fall.
"Markets were up marginally on the back of continuing expectations of initiation of fiscal reforms. The progress of monsoon also boosted the sentiment.
"IT stocks were up. Infosys shares were higher as the US court ruled in favour of the company in an employee harassment case. Also the stability in the US and Europe supported the IT stocks," said Dipen Shah, Head of PCG (Private Client Group) Research, Kotak Securities.
Second-line stocks, however, underperformed the Sensex, indicating lack of major buying by retail investors.
A firming trend in the Asian region and higher opening in Europe also boosted the investor sentiment. Investors expect positive outcome out of bilateral meetings between eurozone leaders.
A fall, though marginal, in retail inflation in July also boosted the sentiment.
Retail inflation declined to 9.86 per cent in July from 10.02 per cent in June.
Investors were also buoyed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram's asking banks on Saturday to cut interest rates and keep EMIs at affordable levels to encourage sale of consumer durables to restart the engine of manufacturing. MORE
