The Sensex on Wednesday opened with a loss of 1 point at 5,804. After displaying volatility in early deals, the index soon slipped below the 5,800-mark to touch an intra-day low of 5,784.

The markets, however, shrugged off its losses following steady buying in select stocks. By late-noon trades, a strong rally across-the-board lifted the index to an intra-day high of 5,890.

The Sensex closed with a gain of 1.23% or 72 points at 5,876. The Nifty also added 29 points to finish at 1,873.

While 22 Sensex stocks advanced, eight declined today.

Heavyweight, PSU and other select old economy counters firmed up on sustained buying support.

Reliance mopped up 2.85% gains (Rs 16) to close at Rs 568. While HLL was up 1.52% (Rs 2) at Rs 154, ITC closed up a rupee at Rs 1,076.

SBI gained 2.23% (Rs 14) to Rs 645. While BHEL added 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 622, HPCL was up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 506. MTNL, however, ended with a loss of 1.37% (Rs 2) at Rs 148.

Reliance Energy flared up 4.32% (Rs 32) to close at Rs 784. While ONGC advanced 1.72% (Rs 14) to Rs 858, Tata Power gained 2.19% (Rs 9) to Rs 410. Tisco also ended with sharp gains to close at Rs 413 - up Rs 14 or 3.60%.

Cement, tech and auto majors, too, had a decent outing today.

Grasim accelerated by 2% (Rs 24) to Rs 1,166. While ACC rose 3.25% (Rs 9) to Rs 276, Gujarat Ambuja gained 2.66% (Rs 8) to Rs 328. L&T also ended with a gain of 1.36% (Rs 8) at Rs 598.

Infosys logged a per cent gain (Rs 44) to Rs 5,425. Satyam (up Rs 5 or 1.54% to Rs 334) also ended with steady gains. Wipro, however, ended down a per cent (Rs 10) at Rs 1,597.

Tata Motors perked up 4.17% (Rs 20) to Rs 512. While Hero Honda moved up 2.76% (Rs 13) to Rs 500, Bajaj ended with a loss of Rs 5 at Rs 916.

Cipla surged 4.80% (Rs 60) to close at Rs 1,310. While Dr. Reddy's ended with marginal gains, Ranbaxy ended down a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 1,049.

ICICI Bank dropped 3.34% (Rs 10) to finish the day at Rs 296.