After alternate bouts of buying and selling, the Sensex closed 34.67 points higher at 8,813.84.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also ended higher by 7.65 points at 2713.80.

Marketmen said Sensex may have gained only 35 points but the sentiment has got a real boost after Bharti Airtel announced handsome results for the third quarter. Airtel strong numbers have strengthened the intense anticipation that market leader RIL would also beat street expectations and trigger a strong rally.

Moreover, Asian bourses also closed in positive terrain taking cues from the Wall Street where Dow Industrial Average netted a gain of 3.5 per cent. European indices also opened stronger on Thursday. Market participants said the sentiment globally is encouraging. Another boosting factor was that banking stocks, which were hit in the past two day in US, Europe and Asia, have recovered, they said.

The BSE banking sector index surged by 0.74 per cent to 4679.40 as ICICI Bank rose by 2.53 per cent at Rs 378.35 and Canara Bank by 2.31 per cent at Rs 204.15.