Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex staged a strong comeback to close more than 186 points higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on emergence of buying by funds and along with short-covering by speculators in heavy-weighted stocks.

The Sensex, which had lost over 975 points in the past three sessions, recovered by 186.32 points to close at 13,181.34 after moving between 12,830.48 and 13,223.00 points on alternate bouts of selling and buying.

Banking and capital goods stocks, which led the decline in the last two days, were the major gainers.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, recovered by 48.30 points at 3765.20. It touched a high of 3,777.60 points earlier in the day.