Mumbai: Led by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), select heavyweight counters rallied smartly aiding the SENSEX to extend its gains to fourth straight session on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 13 on fresh buying prompted by hopes of early decision on HPCL sell-off and exit polls predicting victory for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat.

Public sector undertaking (PSU) stocks like HCPL, BPCL, BEML, NALCO, CCI and few others were in keen demand on reports about a likely meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) to decide on eligibility of bidders and quantum of government stake to be shed from the oil PSU HPCL, indicating early decision on the strategic sell-off.

Investors' morale also seemed to be boosted following prediction of BJP gaining majority in Gujarat Assembly elections by exit polls commissioned by two leading TV networks, brokers said.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened on a firm note at 3335.28 and later rallied further to the intra-day high at 3349.94 before ending at 3342.97 as against previous close of 3324.48, netting a gain of 18.49 points or 0.56 per cent.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index also improved further by 15.23 points to 1647.47 from previous close of 1632.24.

Old economy heavyweights RIL, Telco, Tisco, ITC, Satyam Computers, BHEL, BSES, GACL and ICICI Bank also scored impressive gains on fresh buying support by operators as well as foreign funds.

However, the SENSEX's rally was mitigated by a sharp setback in IT major Infosys Technologies, HCL Techno, Glaxo and MTNL due to selling pressure by the Unit Trust of India (UTI), brokers added.

PTI