Sensex reclaims 10,000-mark amid heavy short-squeeze, up 24% in three weeks; L&T, BHEL, Sterlite and TCS [Get Quote] surge 6%.

The Sensex opened 72 points higher at 9,740 amid positive global cues. Steady buying at the capital goods counters helped the index move higher as the day progressed. Realty stocks, however, witnessed profit-taking.

Heavy short-squeeze towards the close, in select index heavyweights owing to the March derivatives expiry, saw the index zoom past the 10,000-mark, a level last seen on January 7, to a high of 10,061 - up 393 points from the previous close.

The Sensex eventually ended with a gain of 335 points at 10,003. In the process, the index has gained 11.5% (1,036 points) so far this week, and is up a whopping 24.3% (1,956 points) from its recent low of 8,047 touched on March 6.

Also read: Reliance biggest contributor in Sensex rally

The BSE Capital Goods index surged 5.4% to 6,425. The Power and Metal indexes rallied 4% each to 1,883 and 5,827, respectively. The Realty index, however, dropped 4.5% to 1,615 - mainly on account of Akruti City.

The NSE Nifty ended 98 points higher at 3,082.

INDEX MOVERS...

Tata Motors [Get Quote] zoomed 8% to Rs 173.

Larsen & Toubro, Sterlite, TCS and BHEL soared around 6% each to Rs 661, Rs 368, Rs 557 and Rs 1,570, respectively.

Tata Power [Get Quote] and ONGC [Get Quote] surged 5.5% each to Rs 781 and Rs 805, respectively.

Maruti [Get Quote], Wipro [Get Quote], Tata Steel [Get Quote], Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] and Reliance [Get Quote] Infrastructure rallied 5% each to Rs 771, Rs 255, Rs 205, Rs 620 and Rs 564, respectively.

Hindalco [Get Quote] moved up 4.7% to Rs 52. ITC and SBI [Get Quote] gained over 4% each at Rs 185 and Rs 1,094, respectively.

HDFC [Get Quote] advanced 3.5% to Rs 1,653. Grasim [Get Quote] and Infosys [Get Quote] were up 3% each at Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,381, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKER

Ranbaxy [Get Quote] down 3% at Rs 158 was the only notable loser among the index stocks.

OTHER PROMINENT GAINERS...

Crompton Greaves [Get Quote] zoomed 14% to Rs 121. Lanco Infrastructure, Sesa Goa [Get Quote], Aban Offshore [Get Quote], PTC India [Get Quote], Unitech, Yes Bank [Get Quote], Bank of India, IVRCL Infrastructure, Jet Airways [Get Quote], Mphasis and Hindustan Copper [Get Quote] surged 7-12% each.

...AND THE LOSERS

Akruti City slumped 55% to Rs 819. Rei Agro [Get Quote], Spice Telecom, Jai Corp [Get Quote], Indiabulls [Get Quote] Realestate, United Spirits [Get Quote], Piramal Healthcare and Indiabulls declined 3-6% each.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Akruti City topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 545.50 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 370.53 crore), Motherson Sumi (Rs 206.66 crore), ICICI Bank [Get Quote] (Rs 163.50 crore) and Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 135.80 crore).

Unitech led the volume chart with trades of around 3.71 crore shares followed by Motherson Sumi (3.43 crore), Cals Refineries (1.75 crore), GVK Power (1.10 crore) and IFCI (95.80 lakh).