Among prominent gainers on the Sensex at this time were Hindustan Unilever, up 5.25 percent at Rs.296.90; DLF, up 4.93 percent at Rs.413.05; Tata Power, up 4.56 percent at Rs.1,226.30; and Reliance Communications, up 2.24 percent at Rs.282.50.

Losers included Reliance Industries, down 4.75 percent at Rs.1,918.15; Hero Honda, down 2.11 percent at Rs.1,699.05; Tata Motors, down 1.94 percent at Rs.366.25, and ONGC, down 1.62 percent at Rs.1,108.

In other Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, gained 144.11 points to grow to its six-week high at 10,088.66 points on hopes that companies would post better earnings reports.

The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also rose smartly to 20,312.05 points, up 329.26 points.