Banking, pharmaceutical, FMCG, information technology and housing sector stocks hogged the limelight with high volumes and spurt in prices.

The BSE-30 opened moderately higher at 3,615.77 but fell sharply by 37.42 points to 3,578.09 in the initial stage due to selling on end account considerations. However, a rally in the later part of the trading session saw the Sensex touch an intra-day high of 3,681.14 before ending the day at 3,649.06 points.

``Today being the last of the current settlement on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the initial set back was attributed to squaring up of positions. After a mild set back, equities recovered smartly and even rallied further,'' said a BSE broker.

``The index has broken past the decisive level of 3,520 which was a very strong resistance level. The market has been holding at these levels for the past few days andcould test the next resistance level of 3,900 from here,'' said Malay Sameer at Apple Mutual Fund. ``The market closed very firmly today and we can look forward to a strong opening on Monday,'' added Dilip Bhat, a BSE broker.

FIIs continued their purchases particularly at pharmaceutical, software and FMCG counters. FIIs were reportedly buyers in Satyam Computers, L&T, ITC, SBI, Castrol, Grasim, Dr Reddy's Lab, E Merck, Glaxo, Burrough Wellcome, Pfizer and Rhone Poulenc.

UTI made considerable purchases in select index-based scrips like ITC, L&T, SBI and among information technology and FMCG stocks. Banking stocks continued to be in the limelight in response to the RBI's measures with SBI and Corporation Bank registering handsome gains. Castrol India rallied and ended Rs 41 higher at Rs 855 largely on buying by speculators.

The major gainers of the day were Philips which went up by 7.95 per cent, Global Trust Bank up by 7.60 per cent, Corporation bank up by 7.10 per cent, SBI up by 6.77 per cent, Mahindra& Mahindra up by 6.76 per cent, Gujarat Gas up by 6.47 per cent, L&T up by 5.46 per cent among others.

Brokers said the market was strongly bullish and would pick up in the next settlement following strong possibility that the modified insurance regulatory authority (IRA) and the patent bills would be passed smoothly in the current Parliament session.

The total volume of business on the bolt system was much higher at Rs 2,106.76 crore against yesterday's turnover of Rs 1,704.16 crore. ITC remained the most active among the top traded scrips with a turnover of Rs 297.71 crore followed by Pentafour Software Rs 271.84 crore, Reliance Industries Rs 171.77 crore, Satyam Computer Rs 165.48 crore and SBI Rs 152.81 crore.