The Sensex gained further ground as realty, healthcare, capital goods, metal and IT stocks extended gains.

At 12:54 p.m., the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 178.50 points at 9,746.64, after hitting a high of 9,758.56 and a low of 9,547.21.

The S&P CNX Nifty was trading above the psychological 3,000 mark. Today, the broad based Nifty regained the 3K level. It fell below that level on Monday after a steep slide in stocks caused by a setback in worldwide stocks.

Meanwhile Nifty gained 58.25 points at 3,036.40 after touching a high of 3,038.60 and a low of 2,966.40.

Volatility was immense. After opening strongly tracking gains in Asian stocks, Sensex slipped into the negative terrain during the morning trade. Later, the market recovered in volatile trade.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 1.84% and 1.09% respectively.

So far as sectoral indexes were concerned, BSE Realty gained 3.41 per cent; followed by Healthcare, Capital goods, Metal and IT that gained more than 2% each.

At 1:00 p.m., Asian stocks gained, as Japan prepared to reveal a new stimulus package and confidence among South Korean makers rose. Nikkei fell 126.55 points to trade at 8,109.53, Hang Seng index gained 47.72 points to trade at 13,504.05, while Shanghai Composite gained 15.17 points to trade at 2,373.21.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong on BSE with 1,328 shares advancing as compared with 738 that declined. A total of 94 shares remained unchanged.

With markets remaining strong the whole day through, the major gainers included Jaiprakash Associates (5.80%), Reliance Capital (5.42%), Tata Motors (5.28%), Tata Steel (5.20%), Reliance Communications (3.90%), and Reliance Energy (3.64%).

Housing Development Finance Corporation remained the only loser in the Sensex pack after making a loss of 0.80%.