The bulls came out with all guns blazing. After being at the receiving end of the stick in the recent past, the bluechips propelled the Sensex within kissing distance of the 16,500 mark.
The Sensex finally ended at 16,496, stronger by 332 points, and the Nifty closed at 4930, up 100 points.
There was green across the screen, with metals, realty and consumer durables being the limelight. The domestic markets had begun on a firm note, thanks to the positive cues from the US and Asia.
The strong housing and earning data had catapulted the US stocks and And Asian stocks had risen in unison.
And there was no looking back from thereon as the indices rose steadily to end at the highest point of the day.
The follow-on public offer of state-run power generation company NTPC opened for bidding and the response was heartening.
The follow-on public offer of state-run power major NTPC was subscribed 61 per cent in the first two hours of its opening.
The issue received bids for over 25 crore shares against 41.22 crore equities on offer, according to the data available with the National Stock Exchange.
The government currently holds an 89.5 per cent stake in NTPC and it plans to dilute 5 per cent through the FPO.
The stock of the power major ended the day at Rs 209, higher by Rs 3 or 1.8%, on the BSE.
Sterlite was the leading gainer on the Sensex, strengthening by 5.9 per cent at Rs 780. Tata Steel added 4.9 per cent at Rs 600 and L&T was higher by 3.8 per cent at Rs 1449. HDFC, Hindalco and ITC were the other prominent gainers. And index heavyweight, Reliance, added 0.7 per cent at Rs 1,033.
Sun Pharma was the only loser among the Sensex stocks, shedding 1 per cent at Rs 1499.
The market breadth was strong.
Out of 2921 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1769 advancing stocks as against 1054 declines.
