Mumbai, July 12: The BSE benchmark Sensex Monday regained the psychological 18,000 level after three months rising by over 176 points in late morning trade on aggressive buying on hopes of good first quarter results by corporates.
The 30-share barometer rose by 176.53 points, or 0.98 percent, to 18,010.07 points, a level last seen on April 7, 2010.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also breached the 5,400 points mark and was trading 50.25 points or 0.93 percent higher at 5,402.70 points at 1030 hrs.
IT, metals and realty stocks remained front-runners on continued buying activity.
Brokers said expectations of strong earnings by corproates and firming trend on the other Asian bourses bolstered the trading sentiments, helping the Sensex to regain 18,000 points level.
Among major gainers, Infosys Technologies rose by 1.05 percent to Rs 2,902, Reliance Industries up 0.95 percent to Rs 1,065.90, DLF Ltd 2.08 percent to Rs 301.85, Tata Steel 1.13 percent to Rs 501.50 and Sterlite by 2.45 percent to Rs 171.65.
Metal stocks rose as prices gained on the London Metal Exchange on last Friday.
Asian stocks kicked off a new week today with modest gains, after Wall Street closed out its best week in a year on Friday.
The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and South Korea rose between 0.07 percent and 0.81 percent.
-PTI