The key index zoomed by 375.21 points at 15,307.98 after touching the day's high of 15,340.24 and a low of 15,088.07 points.
MUMBAI: The Sensex on Wednesday soared by 375 points as foreign funds stepped up activity on the back of strong global rally sparked by US Federal Reserve's positive outlook for the economy.
IT sector hogged the limelight in response to the government's announcement of restrictions on the external commercial borrowings (ECBs) that led to a sharp fall in the rupee against dollar.
The BSE barometer opened 155 points up and ended the day at 15,307.98, a rise of 375.21 points or 2.51 per cent over yesterday's close of 14,932.77.
This is the third biggest gain so far in the calendar year and the eighth largest in the BSE history.
Similarly, the broad-based S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) jumped by 105.75 points or 2.43 per cent to close at 4,462.10 from previous close of 4,356.35.
Attributing the rally to hectic shortcovering by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which are net sellers so far in the month, market players said the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent and its positive outlook for the US economy had a strong impact on the market.
Shares of the country's most valued company Reliance Industries took a giant leap by 4.0 per cent on speculation that it is likely to pick up a stake in the proposed Jizan refinery project in Saudi Arabia.
IT shares surged to a strong finish as the rupee weakened after the restrictions on ECBs.
Globally, the Hang Seng spurted by 2.87 per cent, Nikkei by 0.64 per cent, Singapore ST by 3.37 per cent, Kospi by 2.34 per cent and Taiwan's Weighted Index by 2.68 per cent.
The market breadth was positive with 1,979 stocks registering sharp to moderate gains against 697 others ending in negative territory.
The trading volume improved further to Rs 4,732.33 crore from Rs 4,456.57 crore yesterday. ICICI Bank was the top traded scrip with the highest turnover of Rs 320.37 crore followed by Reliance Industries (Rs 264.85 crore), Everonn Systems (Rs 145.79 crore), Infosys Technologies (Rs 127.28 crore) and IFCI (Rs 115.98 crore).
The broad-based BSE-100 index rallied sharply by 181.74 points to 7,897.92 from previous close of 7,716.18.
The BSE-200 index and the Dollex-200 were ended higher at 1,869.61 and 768.95 compared to previous close of 1,828.10 and 753.55 respectively. The BSE-500 Index shot up by 129.09 points to 5,987.59 from last close of 5,858.50.
RIL flared up by 69.80 to 1875.65, ONGC by 19.65 to 888.10, Infosys Tech by 88.85 to 1967.60, TCS by 45.80 to 1153.70, Wipro by 16.95 to 476.25, Satyam Computer by 16.30 to 479.30, HDFC by 92.35 to 2065.95, SBI by 22.70 to 1705.95, HDFC Bank by 29.35 to 1171.95, ICICI Bank by 13.10 to 883.85, Grasim by 67.45 to 2988.45, ACC by 39.25 to 1025.00, ACL by 2.50 to 129.65, Bajaj Auto by 35.55 to 2310.75, Maruti by 12.70 to 837.40, M&M by 11.30 to 690.00, Tata Motors by 3.80 to 661, BHEL by 40.60 to 1712.40, L&T by 39.85 to 2492.60, Bharti Airtel by 9.80 to 885.80, Hindalco by 5.00 to 161.85, HUL by 2.75 to 202.80, NTPC by 4.35 to 171.05, Ranbaxy by 12.70 to 381.75 Reliance Com by 11.80 to 544.15 and Tata Steel by 7.95 to 650.55.
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