Of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, 28 were in the green. The top gainers at this time were Hindalco, up 4.64 percent at Rs.104.90; Jaiprakash Associates, up 4.07 percent at Rs.211; DLF, up 4.01 percent at Rs.379, and ICICI Bank, up 3.69 percent at Rs.1,465.

The two losers were TCS, down 0.53 percent at Rs.508, and Infosys, down 0.51 percent at Rs.1,973.

In other Asian markets the Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ended a marginal 16.35 points up at 10,284.96 points, 0.16 percent higher than its previous close.

The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was ruling in the green at 20,285.24 points, up 147.59 points or 0.73 percent.