Mumbai: The benchmark spurted by nearly 30 points to close at a seven-month peak of 3382.64 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 26 following good buying support from operators and retail investors, with Reliance Industries leading the bull charge.

A sharp rise in Grasim, HPCL, Ranbaxy and Tisco also aided the surge in the SENSEX, with sentiments remaining positive for further gains before the year-end, dealers said.

Barring a few IT counters that registered a smart rise, second-line stocks met with late profit-selling following weak Nasdaq advices even as front-line software counters attracted brisk buying.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index resumed firm at 3360.86 and rallied to a high of 3399.37 before closing at 3382.64 as against Tuesday's close of 3352.77, a smart rise of 0.89 per cent.

The Broad-based BSE-100 also improved by 13.28 points to settle at 1661.60 from previous close of 1648.32.

Majority of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) scrips were also in limelight on renewed buying in anticipation of continuation of the economic reforms process. PSUs from Gujarat state, like GNFC, GSFC, Guj Mineral Developments were the star performers after the BJP secured a thumping majority.

Dealers said that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were mostly absent due to Christmas holidays while local funds picked up select old-economy counters.

PTI