BSE benchmark Sensex made a strong recovery on Monday, soaring 372 points, driven by buying in heavy weights including Infosys and ICICI Bank, coupled with recovery in European markets.
     
Snapping last week's losing spree, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index Sensex started the week on a strong note and settled with a gain of 372.15 points or 1.90 percent at 19,957.59.
     
The barometer had shed nearly three percent last week.
     
The National Stock Exchange's wide-based Nifty also saw a handsome rally of 119.70 points to finish above the 6,000-mark at 6,010.
     
Market players attributed the bounce back to the positive sentiment in the global market along with heavy buying in front-line stocks like Infosys, RIL and ICICI Bank.
     
"Sharp recovery in the market is primarily led by the value buying in blue chips and the fading noise on the 2G spectrum row. Besides, strong European markets also helped in the bounce back," Networth Stock Broking Head of Institutional Business Prakash Diwan said.
     
Salient stocks
     
Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were the other major drivers behind the rally in the bellwether Sensex. Top private lender ICICI closed with a surge of 2.69 percent, while RIL went up by 1.53 percent on BSE.
     
Meanwhile, IT major Wipro grabbed the top slot among the Sensex firms and settled the session with a jump of 4.16 percent.
     
Cement maker Jaiprakash Associates was another highlight of the day whose shares zoomed 4.02 percent, and realty player DLF too soared 3.43 percent.
     
In the telecom space, Bharti Airtel was on a gaining spree. The counter ended with a gain of 2.45 percent.      

"Bharti Airtel has emerged as a smart player compared to its competitors with its aggressive expansion plans. Investors are parking their money in the counter in order  to cash on the benefits," Diwan added.
     
Barring three stocks, including NTPC and Larsen & Toubro, the rest ended the day on a positive note.
     
Global markets were mixed, with a firm trend in the European markets in the afternoon session, after Ireland sent bailout application to the European Union.      

Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed with a loss of 0.35 percent and China's Shanghai, too, declined by 0.15 percent, while Japan's Nikkei ended up 0.93 percent.

Sectoral performance

All the BSE 13 sectoral indices ended the trade on a firm note, with financials, auto and consumer durables emerging as the strong performers.
     
The bankex index settled 361.33 points higher at 14,066.42, with HDFC Bank closing up 2.99 percent and SBI 1.56 percent.
     
The consumer durables index too soared 167.50 points to 6,623.42, with gains being registered in the counters of Videocon which was up 1.09 percent, and Whirlpool 1.26 percent.
     
"The European peers of the domestic equity market were positive, which was reflected in the upward journey of the Sensex. Also, the current week is for the futures and options (F&O) expiry, so some kind of volatility is expected from the market in the days to come," SMC Capitals equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.
     
The auto counter saw smart rally of 176.42 points to end at 10,117.35. Tata Motors finished the day 3.18 percent higher and Mahindra and Mahindra 1.75 percent.