Reliance, Hindustan Lever (HLL), State Bank of India, Nestle and other cyclicals helped the Sensex remain firm. Reliance was the star performer with a 6 per cent gain. Other pivotals also remained firm. HLL was up by Rs 50 at the end of the day, while Gujarat Ambuja had risen by Rs 10.

During the early part of the day, software stocks were under selling pressure, but revived during the second half on strong buying support, especially from operators and foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

Among the technology stocks, Satyam tended to be a favourite, as FIIs and domestic funds bought the stock in chunks. The sentiment in the counter refused to be dampened by selling pressure from a major US-based fund, dealers said. Scrips, like Himachal, Global Tele, Zee Tele, TV 18 and SSI Ltd, powered by operators were on the uptrend on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Dealers reported substantial buying in Reliance, though it could not be ascertained whether they were fund-based purchases, or merely operator-driven. The Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), helped by FII purchases, also hit the upper circuit, though HDFC Bank was weak on the bourse.

The bloodbath seen during the last two months was a thing of the past, the dealers said. "That's over now. The market will not go down so much," said an analyst with a leading broking firm. As the US markets were closed on Monday, market sources said operators could follow their own inclinations now. The trading volume remained comparatively high on both the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On the BSE it was Rs 2,785 crore, and on the NSE Rs 3,840 crore.

The Sensex, which opened at 4082.91 points, peaked at 4222.65. The low for the day was 4064.46 points. The S&P CNX Nifty gained 31 points to close at 1306.55 points. The high and low for the day were 1317.75 points and 1267.40 points respectively.

The number of advances stood at 827, and declines 487. Around 88 stocks remained unchanged.

Stocks which gained more than 7.9 per cent were: Zee, SSI, Rel Capital, NIIT, HDFC, Nestle, Apollo Tyres, UPL, Brittania, Ashok Leyland, Bata, VSNL, Voltas, BEL, Trent, Novartis, Amaraja Batt, Bharat Forge, Fortune Info, Veronica Lab, Salora Int, and Websity Info.

The other gainers for the day were: Reliance, HFCL, IPCL, BHEL, ICICI, Indo Gulf, Tata Elxsi, BPL, Corp Bank, McDowell, Cadbury, Dabur, Crompton Gr, Bilt, Parke Davis, Henkle Spic, and Rhone Poulenc. The stocks which dipped more than 7.9 per cent were Polaris, Shyam Tele, Tata Telcom, Mastek, KLG Systel, Octogon Techno, Yash Management, and Atco.

The other losers for the day were: Hughes Soft, RS Soft, Kaashyap Rad, Sibar Soft, Max India, Zenith Info, Melstar Info, Shri MM Soft, and Lyka Labs.