Sensex ends 173 points up

After a shaky start and a subsequent choppy ride that lasted close to five hours, the market staged a smart rally thanks to some hectic buying pharmaceuticals, power, bank, realty and FMCG stocks and ended the session on a firm note on Friday. Oil, information technology and automobile stocks too moved up smarly in the final hour.

Asian markets were mostly subdued amid lackluster trades and European stocks too were seen struggling to move higher on Friday . Still, investors, presumably FIIs, picked up stocks in late afternoon trade and lifted the key indices Sensex and Nifty to their best levels since 9 November 2011 and 31 October 2011, respectively.

Top gainers | Worst losers | More tips

The Sensex, which eased to 17,382.70 in early trades and kept moving back and forth around its previous closing mark for a long time, spurted to 17,630.53 in the final hour and eventually ended the day with a gain of 173.11 points or 0.99% at 17.604.96.

The Nifty closed with a gain of 55.95 points or 1.06% at 5325.85, slightly off the day's high of 5334.85.

According to the data available from the exchanges, foreign institutional investors bough shares worth a net Rs 1941 crore on Thursday after buying shares for nearly Rs 1700 crore a day earlier. The data reveals that FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 10358 crore in January 2012.

Besides hectic buying by FIIs, the latest batch of economic data too contributed to the market's strong upmove this afternoon.

According to a survey, India's services sector grew at its fastest pace in six months during January as new business swelled, extending the previous couple of months' positive trend into the new calendar year. The HSBC Business Activity Index, compiled by Markit and based on a survey of around 400 firms, bounced to 58.0 in January from 54.2 in Decembe, the third month the index has been above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction.

The data released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics on Wednesday showed that India's manufacturing sector activity jumped to an eight-month high in January as factories stepped up production on increased demand. The HSBC-Markit India manufacturing PMI rose to 57.5 in January from 54.2 in December. A reading over 50 indicates expansion while any reading below it implies contraction. India's manufacturing PMI has stayed above the 50 mark for nearly three years.

NTPC, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharmaceuticals surged 2.4% - 2.8% on Friday . DLF, BHEL and Tata Consultancy Services ended nearly 2% up.

ONGC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, Coal India, Reliance Industries and Infosys gained 1% - 1.9%. ITC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and GAIL India also closed on a firm note.

IDFC, up nearly 5.5%, was the top gainer in the Nifty index. Grasim Industries surged 3.5%. Dr Reddy's Laboratories ended with strong gains on buoyant results. Siemens, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Cairn India and Power Grid Corporation also ended with impressive gains.

Top gainers | Worst losers | More tips

JK Lakshmi, EIH, Syndicate Bank, Tantia Constructions, KSK Energy and Aban Offshore moved up on strong results.

The market breadth was fairly strong. Out of 2955 stocks traded on BSE, 1717 stocks moved up. 1166 stocks declined and 112 stocks ended flat.