The benchmark Sensex, on Monday (April 06), marked its closure on a strong note although profit-booking at higher levels trimmed early sharp gains.

The firm buying action witnessed across frontline stocks assisted Sensex to continue its positive run for the fourth straight session, gaining by another 186.04 points to end at nearly a 5-month peak of 10,534.87.

The broad-based NSE Nifty surged 45.55 points (1.42%) at 3,256.60 after touching an intraday high of 3,303.90 and an intraday low of 3,211.35.

Consumer durables, consumer goods, metal, auto and realty stocks remained in limelight and topped the profit charts, whereas FMCG stocks went down.

The 30-share-index BSE Sensex opened the day after making a gain of 172.95 points at 10,521.78, and gained further strength and hit a high of Rs 10,654.89.

Secondline stocks also backed the upmove.

Heavy buying by FIIs and also domestic funds also encouraged market reaction.

FIIs pumped in Rs 691.56 crore on April 2 whereas domestic funds also picked up shares worth Rs 254.71 crore on the same day, as per provisional data.

Broader market indices like the BSE midcap index gained 2.48% while the BSE smallcap index was up 3.21%.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Consumer durables remained the top gainer with 5.84%, Consumer goods, Metal and Auto gained more than 3% each, Realty zoomed 2.97%, while FMCG lost 1.82%.

Market breadth was positive, with 1,859 counters registering gains and 633 ending with losses.

The major gainers in the 30-share index included Mahindra & Mahindra (14.26%), Reliance Communications (11.19%), Larsen & Toubro (7.40%), Housing Development Finance Corporation (7.37%), Reliance Energy (6.47%), and Hindalco Industries (6.39%).

On the other hand, the losers’ list comprised ACC (-3.14%), ITC (-2.49%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (-2.30%), Grasim Industries (-2.13%), Hindustan Unilever (-1.67%), and State Bank Of India (-1.43%).

On global front, Asian stocks moved up, led by banking institutions and car manufacturers and backed by the yen fell to a 5-month low and the declaration by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben S Bernanke that policies to melt credit markets are functioning.

Nikkei gained 108.09 points to close at 8,857.93, Hang Seng index surged 452.35 points at 14,998.04 and Taiex index increased 26.59 points at 5,556.22.

European stocks gained, as investors speculated the nastiest of the downturn may be over. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 gained 36.99 points to trade at 4,066.66.

French benchmark index CAC 40 gained 33.63 points, or 1.14%, to trade at 2,992.37 and Germany`s benchmark index DAX advanced 44.70 points, or 1.02%, to trade at 4,429.69. (4.20 p.m., IST).