The Sensex opened 49 points higher at 12,504 backed by smart gains in the Asian markets. Anxiety in early trades saw the index move in a narrow range of 50-odd points.

Steady buying thereafter, mainly in heavyweights like Infosys, HLL, Reliance and NTPC, saw the index touch a high of 12,656 before settling with a gain of 169 points at 12,625.

The IT index soared 2% to 4767. The Auto, Metal and FMCG indices were up around 1% each at 4612, 8220 and 1714, respectively.

The market breadth was marginally positive - out of 2,518 stocks traded, 1,390 advanced, 1,040 declined and 88 were unchanged today.

Bouncing back

BHEL and NTPC surged over 4.5% each to Rs 2,254 and Rs 154, respectively. Wipro and Hero Honda soared 3% each to Rs 534 and Rs 659, respectively.

Satyam advanced 2.8% to Rs 459, and Grasim added 2.4% to Rs 2,104.

Infosys and Reliance gained over 2% each to Rs 1,964 and Rs 1,341, respectively.

Tata Motors, ITC, ONGC, Gujart Ambuja and HLL moved up around 1.5% each Rs 681, Rs 149, Rs 842, Rs 105 and Rs 199, respectively.

Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications, Hindalco, Dr.Reddy's, TCS and Reliance Energy were up over 1% each.

Most active counters

Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 112.20 crore followed by Renuka Sugar (Rs 110.70 crore), Indiabulls (Rs 68.30 crore), BHEL (Rs 67.90 crore) and Kotak Bank (Rs 67.20 crore).

IFCI led the volume chart with trades of around 1.50 crore shares followed by Power Finance (52.30 lakh), Rana Sugar (51.50 lakh), Sakthi Sugar (41 lakh) and Reliance Petroleum (29.90 lakh).