The index opened 76 points higher at 14,326, and then exhibited firm trend throughout the day. The index touched a high of 14,801 at the fag end of the day.
The NSE Nifty ended at 4375, up 144 points.
The Auto index surged 5.7% to 5,097. Among the other sectoral indices, Bankex, IT and Realty also posted smart gains.
The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,739 shares traded, 1,833 advanced and 825 declined.
INDEX GAINERS...
Reliance Infrastructure and Mahindra & Mahindra zoomed over 8% each to Rs 1,150 and 778, respectively.
Jaiprakash Associates rallied over 7% to Rs 213.
ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Hero Honda and Hindalco soared 6.5% each to Rs 742, Rs 316 and Rs 1,638 and Rs 84, respectively.
ITC and HDFC gained nearly 6% each to Rs 230 and Rs 2,516, respectively.
Bharti Airtel, Grasim, Tata Power and DLF gained over 5% each to Rs 827, Rs 2,745, Rs 1,147 and Rs 332, respectively.
SBI and Infosys added over 4% each to Rs 1,674 and Rs 1,867, respectively.
...AND THE SHAKERS
Sterlite, NTPC and Reliance were marginally down.
VALUE AND VOLUME TOPPERS
Satyam topped the value chart with a total turnover of Rs 326 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 244.90 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 196.84 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 189.91crore) and Educomp Solutions (Rs 188.16 crore).
Satyam also led the volume chart with trades of around 37.65 million shares followed by Reliance Natural Resources (17.30 million), Cals Refineries (16.19 million), Ispat Industries (16.14 million) and Suzlon Energy (13.84 million).