The Sensex closed at 5,974 - up 44 points.

The Nifty ended at 1,878 - up 19 points.

Infosys after languishing in negative zone for most part of the trading day, finally closed with a gain of Rs 4 at Rs 2,040. Satyam spurted 1.8% (Rs 7) to Rs 407, and Wipro rallied 1.4% (Rs 9) to Rs 699.

ITC surged 1.2% (Rs 14) to Rs 1,141. Reliance added Rs 4 to Rs 544. HLL, however, was down a rupee at Rs 136.

HPCL soared 3.5% (Rs 12) to Rs 348. ONGC rallied Rs 8 to Rs 826.

HDFC Bank zoomed 4% (Rs 18) to Rs 476. SBI advanced Rs 3 to Rs 493. However, ICICI Bank closed unchanged at Rs 317.

HDFC declined 1.6% (Rs 11) to Rs 695.

Tisco spurted 2.3% (Rs 7) to Rs 308. Hindalco was up Rs 4 at Rs 1,292.

Ranbaxy gained 1.5% (Rs 16) at Rs 1,096, owing to bagain hunting at counter following a two-day fall. Cipla was up 1.2% (Rs 3) at Rs 274, and Dr.Reddy's ended Rs 5 higher at Rs 776.

Hero Honda zoomed 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 442. Maruti and Tata Motors moved up a per cent each to Rs 378 and Rs 429, respectively. Bajaj Auto added Rs 6 to Rs 989.

ACC surged 1.8% (Rs 5) to Rs 265, and Grasim gained Rs 10 at Rs 1,126. Gujarat Ambuja, however, was unchanged at Rs 352.

Bharti Tele zoomed 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 163. Zee was up a rupee at Rs 151.

The BSE Metal index surged 1.7% to 5,189, and the BSE PSU index rallied 1.4% to 3,839. The BSE Auto, BANKEX and TECk indices also posted smart gains at 2,394, 2,965 and 1,609, respectively.