The Sensex surged to a high of 18,626 in closing trades on the back of fresh buying in realty, oil & gas and auto stocks.
The Sensex traded in the green through the day, on positive cues from Asian peers, finally ending at 18,596 -- up 184 points.
In the process, the index reversed its three-day losing streak, wherein the BSE benchmark index had declined 666 points.
The NSE Nifty settled 59 points higher at 5,585.
Asian markets moved up in trades after foreign players covered short positions after steep losses a day ago. Nikkei was up 0.4% on gains in brokerage shares.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite added 1.5% each. European markets were in the green as well, and the US futures too showed promise ahead.
The broader markets gained in-line with the benchmark. BSE mid-cap index was up 1.3% at 6,988 while small-cap index advanced 1% at 8,341.
The BSE realty, oil & gas and auto indices were the major movers in trade today. The indices moved up around 1.6% each. Meanwhile, IT stocks remained weak after heavyweight, Infosys, reported lower-than-expected guidance for FY12. The index ended marginally lower at 5,922.
IT giant Infosys slipped 0.4% at Rs 2,784 after reporting Q1 numbers on Tuesday. Other IT Heavyweight, TCS is set to announce numbers tomorrow, along with auto major, Bajaj Auto.
TCS ended flat at Rs 1,151. Bajaj Auto managed to gain 1.6% at 1,449.
"IT stocks are looking weak in the medium term out look and i dont expect anything positive going forward in next two quaters and Infosys looks the weakest for a target of 2300," said Somil Mehta, Sr Technical Analyst (Equity),