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After a weak opening, the Sensex moved up towards the close and wound up 123.43 points, or 0.70 per cent up at 17,830.75. Banking, metals and auto stocks led the gains.
The NSE 50-issue index Nifty rose 44.22 points, or 0.82 per cent to 5,412.35.
After dull trade, the last 30-minute buying emerged on firm openings in European markets ahead of a decision by central bankers and political leaders to finalise package to resolve debt crisis in Greece and the euro-zone.
Brokers said steady FII inflows kept the market strong.
Auto stocks gained on higher industry sales in January. The auto index gained 1.78 per cent. Bajaj Auto rose by 3.30 per cent and Tata Motors by 2.57 per cent.
IT stocks rose, led by Infosys which rose 1.39 per cent. Tata Consultancy Services was up 0.68 per cent.
The banking index gained 1.85 per cent, followed by metal index - up 2.05 per cent. The realty sector index rose by 1.95 per cent.
Markets @ 10.19 AM (Reuters)
The BSE Sensex dropped 0.4 percent on Thursday on concerns about earnings outlook and investors took profits after the main index rallied 15 percent over the past five weeks.
Hindalco Industries, the country's largest aluminium maker, fell 5.5 percent after its U.S. unit Novelis cut its fiscal year earnings estimate for the second time.
Leading mobile operator Bharti Airtel fell as much as 2.4 percent, extending their 6.5 percent drop in the previous session, as brokerages cut their price targets on the stock after the reported an eighth straight drop in quarterly profit.
Export-driven software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys slipped 1.4 and 0.9 percent, respectively after industry body NASSCOM cut revenue guidance for most software exporters.
Third-ranked Wipro lost 1.2 percent.
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd bucked the trend and jumped as much as 16 percent, a day after its UK-based parent Thomas Cook Group Plc said it would look to sell its stake in the Indian travel operator.
By 10:19 a.m. (0449 GMT), the main 30-share BSE index was down 0.46 percent at 17,626.09, with 20 of its components declining.
Investors were also wary after Greek political leaders failed to conclude a deal for a bailout package crucial to avoiding a messy debt default.
Discussions would continue with one issue left to be resolved, so a deal could be concluded before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Thursday, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said in a statement.
"There will be some weakness in the form of profit-booking, but I don't see that stopping the market from building up gains again," said Jigar Shah, senior vice-president with KIM ENG Securities.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index was at 68.6, near the 70 mark that indicates stocks are overbought.
Analysts said strong demand from foreign institutional investors would help stocks to rebound in the coming sessions.
Foreign funds have invested $3.6 billion in local equities so far this year, data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India showed. In 2011, they were net sellers of about $500 million.
The 50-share NSE index was down 0.41 percent at 5,345.75. In the broader market, losers led gainers by about 1.6:1, on volume of around 205.8 million shares.
Elsewhere in the region, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.33 percent, while Japan's Nikkei was down 0.14 percent.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Tata Steel Ltd , the world's No.7 steelmaker, shed 1.3 percent ahead of its December quarter results, expected after market hours. Analysts on average estimate a 41 percent fall in net profit to 5.6 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
* Engineering and construction company Unity Infraprojects rose 3.4 percent after it received two orders worth 4.85 billion rupees.
TOP 3 BY VOLUME
* IFCI with 13.4 million shares.
* Hindalco with 11.1 million shares.
* Suzlon Energy with 9.8 million shares
Markets @ 09.00 AM (Reuters)
The BSE Sensex fell 0.2 percent early on Thursday as investors locked in gains after a recent rally and awaited Greece's debt talks to reach a deal and avoid a messy default.
Tata Steel Ltd , the world's No.7 steelmaker, fell more than 1 percent ahead of its December quarter results, expected after market hours.
Analysts on average estimate a 41 percent fall in net profit to 5.6 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
At 9:17 a.m. (0347 GMT), the main 30-share BSE index was down 0.17 percent at 17,677.42, with 16 of its components in the red. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.2 percent at 5,357.55
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