The Sensex on Friday closed with a gain of 77 points at 3,884, while the Nifty added 26 points to close at 1,223.

The Sensex opened firm with a gain of 17 points at 3,824. The index moved in positive zone right through the session. Aggressive buying towards the closing stages saw the index spurt to an intra-day high of 3,891.

While 27 Sensex stocks advanced, three declined on Friday. The traded volume and value of the index scrips were higher at 2.93 crore (29.3 million) and Rs 891.09 crore (Rs 8,910.9 million), respectively.

Heavyweights, techs and PSUs were firm on Friday.

ITC at Rs 762 (up Rs 23 or 3%), Reliance at Rs 363 (up Rs 8 or 2%) and HLL at Rs 168 (up Rs 3 or 2%) led the rally. Over 300,000 ITC shares were traded on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 26 crore (Rs 260 million). More than 15 lakh (1.5 million) HLL shares changed hands on the BSE.

Infosys remained firm through the session, and moved up 2% (Rs 61) to Rs 3,556. More than 200,000 shares changed hands on BSE today with a turnover of Rs 71 crore (Rs 710 million). HCL Tech closed firm on last-minute buying with a gain of 4% (Rs 7) at Rs 178. Satyam, too, finished in the gainers list at Rs 205 - up Rs 3 or 2%.

BHEL, which bagged a Rs 188-crore (Rs 1.88 billion) order for the supply of generating equipment to set up a 120 MW thermal power plant at Jojobera near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, advanced 7% (Rs 20) to Rs 295. More than 700,000 shares were traded on BSE with a turnover of Rs 22 crore (Rs 220 million). HPCL, after a steady morning session, gained ground in the afternoon trades to close at Rs 354 - up Rs 7 or 2%. SBI closed up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 422. MTNL, however, finished marginally lower at Rs 122.

Cement, pharma and auto stocks, too, displayed positive trends.

ACC flared up nearly 3% (Rs 5) to Rs 206. While Grasim clocked 2% gains (Rs 13) to Rs 584, Gujarat Ambuja closed up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 231. L&T ended marginally higher at Rs 280.

Ranbaxy, after trading with steady gains for better part of the trading session, rose 2% (Rs 17) to Rs 815. Dr. Reddy's and Cipla closed up a per cent each at Rs 1,055 (up Rs 19) and Rs 872 (up Rs 16), respectively. Glaxo closed up a tad at Rs 408.

Telco ended in the gainers list at Rs 245 - up Rs 4 or 2%. Bajaj, after trading in and out of the positive zone, finished with a gain of Rs 2 at Rs 661. Hero Honda added Rs 3 to Rs 272.

Nestle at Rs 598 (up Rs 23 or 4%), BSES at Rs 307 (up Rs 17 or 6%), Tisco at Rs 233 (up Rs 8 or 4%), ICICI Bank at Rs 155 (up Rs 5 or 3%) and HDFC at Rs 445 (up Rs 11 or 2%) ended with substantial gains.

Tech stocks were divergent on Friday. Wipro firmed up on sustained buying and advanced 3% (Rs 28) to Rs 961. Digital clocked 4% gains (Rs 17) to close at Rs 478. Visual Software moved up 8% (Rs 12) to Rs 164. E-Serve, Mphasis and Hughes dropped 2% each to Rs 621 (down Rs 14), Rs 352 (down Rs 9) and Rs 294 (down Rs 7), respectively. While i-flex was down a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 1,145, Mastek closed down a tad Rs 209.

PSUs attracted considerable buying interest. ONGC spurted 5% (Rs 24) to Rs 525. IOC rose 3% (Rs 15) to Rs 519. BPCL gained 2% (Rs 6) to Rs 283. IBP, however, shed 2% (Rs 15) to Rs 635.

SCI raked in 8% gains (Rs 6) to Rs 82. While SAIL added 7% to Rs 27, RCF jumped 6% (Rs 2) to Rs 36.