Among the gainers on the Sensex were M&M, up 6.22 percent at Rs.864; ONGC, up 3.24 percent at Rs.1,179.50; HDFC, up 3.22 percent at Rs.2,460, and Sterlite, up 3.01 percent at Rs.665.

There were only three losers: Tata Motors, down 1.63 percent at Rs.501.50; DLF, down 1.16 percent at Rs.408.50, and TCS, down 0.35 percent at Rs.531.10.

Trading at other important Asian markets were mixed.

The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 27.53 points or 0.27 percent lower at 10,187.11 points.

At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the benchmark SSE composite was ruling 0.58 percent, up at 2,861.61 points.

The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, was also in the green at 20,318.62 points, up 556.94 points or 2.82 percent.