``The bullish fervour generated by Star News exit poll provided the trigger and buying is now beginning to spread from IT to other sectors. The momentum is likely to continue,'' said a market participant. ``The market is positive after it corrected itself last week. On the downside, the Sensex cannot go below the 4500-level,'' added Ambareesh Baliga at Kotak Securities.

According to market players, with September 30 approaching, the markets are likely to consolidate at current levels. ``The fund managers would like to see the Sensex hold at current levels, since any fall will have an adverse impact on their performance,'' pointed out a portfolio manager.

Reliance Industries galloped from Rs 186.90 to touch a high of Rs 196.80 before closing at Rs 193.55. There were number of rumours doing the rounds at the RIL counter. ICICI, riding high on NYSE listing, exhausted the 8 per cent limit to touch Rs 92.75 and closed at the same price.

Among cable stocks, Sterlite moved up from Rs 430 to Rs 460, on rumours of a bonus issue. Finolex Cables also gained from Rs 268 to Rs 281. Stocks like Himachal Futuristics, Sun Pharma and Visual Soft hit the upper end of the circuit filter. Zee Telefilms, which has seen a sharp run in share price, ended with a marginal gain of Rs 57. The stock opened strong at Rs 4599 on the National Stock Exchange against Wednesday's close of Rs 4549 and touched a high of Rs 4750 before tumbling to close at Rs 4606. ``With a little floating stock, a marginal selling pressure can rsult in a sharp fall. The stock lost close to Rs 150 on rumours of a Sebi enquiry in the sharp spurt at the counter,'' said a BSE broker.

Infosys notched up further gains to close at Rs 7798, up Rs 90 from the previous closing price of Rs 7708. NIIT also rallied by Rs 104 to close at Rs 2709.

``The Sensex is likely to rally by 100 points tomorrow as buying has spread to new sectors while operators have short-sold in pivotals,'' said a market participant.