Mumbai: On the back of a sharp overnight rally, share values spurted across the spectrum on hectic all- round buying, particularly from foreign funds, sending the SENSEX surging by a whopping 124.70 points to close at 4356.39 at the Bombay Stock Exchange on September 24.

The principal driving force behind the soaring prices was the sustained frenetic demand from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), well supported by other retail operators, dealers said.

The upbeat mood of the market appears well set to test the next crucial level of 4400, even as tomorrow's opening would signal the actual buoyant sentiments, they added.

"The penultimate day of Futures & Options (F&O) saw operators hastily cover short positions after the witnessing the frenzied buying by foreign funds," a dealer said.

Steep rise in the SENSEX could be gauged by gains in all 30 index-based counters including heavyweights like RIL, HLL, Infosys Tech, BHEL, ITC, SBI, Telco and Tisco.

Despite a strong start at 4249.93, hesitant operators initially pushed the SENSEX down to 4229.87. But, a sharp resurgence in buying from all quarters drove it to a high of 4366.83, before ending at 4356.39, a stupendous gain of 2.95 per cent from Tuesday's close of 4231.69.

The broad-based BSE-100 index also spurted by 63.45 points to close at 2222.59 from previous close of 2159.14.

The top heavyweight and petrochem giant, RIL, and IT bellwether, Infosys Tech, remained at the forefront.

PTI