Among prominent gainers on the Sensex at this time were TCS up 3.44 percent at Rs.517; Hindustan Unilever up 2.97 percent at Rs.276; HDFC up 2.84 percent at Rs.2,430.05; and Wipro up 2.6 percent at Rs.478.85.

Losers included Sun Pharma down 5.41 percent at Rs.1,124; Hindalco down 0.79 percent at Rs.93.90; BHEL down 0.73 percent at Rs.2,222 and Bharti Airtel down 0.54 percent at Rs.421.

In other Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed marginally up at 10,165.21 points, up 51.97 points.

However, the Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was ruling in the green at 20,286.48 points, up 150.98 points.