The Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index Sensex gained 217 points on Thursday on the central bank's verdict to refrain from raising key policy rates and infuse liquidity into the system.

The RBI's decision not to alter its lending plus borrowing rates, together with move to inculcate liquidity in the banking system to the tune of Rs 48,000 crore, offset weak global cues and rise in food inflation.

The 30-share index Sensex saw a highly volatile movement but shut its shop after surging 217 points at 19864.85 as against 19647.77 on Wednesday, activated by late-buying action in financial and real estate scrips.

A similar trend was witnessed in the National Stock Exchange's wide-based Nifty, which closed positively at 5948.75 as compared 5892.30.

Marketmen stated while RBI's decision on rates was in proportion to the BSE's anticipations, decrease in SLR by 1% to 24% was a positive revelation.

IIFL Economist Ashutosh Datar said, "RBI kept all key policy rates unchanged, though a one percentage point cut in SLR, the portion of deposits that banks park in government securities, was unexpected. This coupled with the decision to infuse Rs. 48,000 crore (within the next one month) is a big positive for the markets."

Responding to the central bank's decision, SBI surged 2.44% and ICICI Bank climbed up by 2.43% and HDFC Bank gained 1.8%.

Also in the public interest were the IT scrips that traded strong all through the day, in spite of a volatile market.

Infosys grew by 2.77% to Rs 3,292.30 and remained the major contributor in the overall Sensex gain.

TCS rose 3.56% and Wipro increased by 2.71% to Rs 469.80.

Quick buying action seen in Hero Honda during the second-half, also assisted the stock market.

The scrip gained 3.57% to Rs 1,679.10 amid reports of the separation among the promoters, Hero Group and Honda of Japan.

Indian currency made modest recovery and gained 6 paise ac compared to the US currency at 45.35 on Thursday against 45.41 on Wednesday.