Despite suffering a setback of sorts amid high volatility in afternoon trade, the market, which got off to a buoyant start this morning on global cues, managed to extend its gains to a third successive session thanks to fairly strong buying in select heavyweights.

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Some better-than-expected economic data from U.S., firm Asian and European markets and recent positive reports that indicated government's intention with regard to reforms aided the sentiment today. A strong round of selling in several blue chip stocks did cause a setback around mid afternoon, but the bulls got back their act quickly and drove the market to a positive close in the end.

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The Sensex, which raced to 16,283.86 in early trades but tumbled to 16,075.19 around mid afternoon, ended the day at 16,158.28 with a gain of 94.38 points or 0.59%. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange closed at 4796.15, netting a gain of 30.60 points or 0.64%. The Nifty touched a high of 4836.20 and a low of 4764.85 in intra-day trades.

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PSU stocks have flared up following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approving divestment in PSUs t raise funds for social welfare. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs' decision that all listed and profitable PSUs would have to maintain a minimum of 10% public shareholding has triggered hectic buying in the PSU space. The PSU index ended stronger by nearly 4%.

Realty, metal, bank and capital goods stocks were the other prominent gainers today. Select pharma, power and information technology stocks edged higher, while auto and FMCG stocks ended mostly subdued.

Jaiprakash Associates, the top gainer in the Sensex today, ended stronger by around 4.75%. Tata Steel moved up by over 3%. State Bank of India also ended up by over 3%. Sterlite Industries (2.25%), Larsen & Toubro (2.2%), DLF (2.15%), HDFC (1.95%), Sun Pharmaceuticals (1.8%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (1.05%) also closed with sharp gains.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (0.9%) ended well off the day's high. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ONGC and Hindalco closed with modest gains.

Suzlon Energy (6.6%) had another good outing. Ranbaxy Laboratories ended with a gain of 4.2%. Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Unitech, HCL Technologies, SAIL, GAIL India and BPCL also closed with notable gains.

Tata Power shed 3.8%. Hindustan Unilever and Hero Honda ended lower by around 2%. ITC, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and ACC lost 1% - 1.5%. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Grasim Industries and Reliance Communications also closed on a weak note.

Nifty stock Idea Cellular ended 5.2% down. Ambuja Cements declined 2.35% to Rs 83.70. Reliance Capital, ABB, Cipla and Jindal Steel also ended in the negative territory.

Shares of state run MMTC (20%), State Trading Corporation (14.85%), Dredging Corporation (12.2%), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (11.8%), Hindustan Copper (10%), NMDC (10%), Engineers India (8.25%),and NHPC (6%) ended with big gains. Neyveli Lignite Corporation and BEML also closed with sharp gains.

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Scores of midcap and smallcap stocks rallied sharply on sustained buying support today. As a result, the market breadth was strong right through the session. Out of 2787 stocks traded on BSE, as many as 1944 stocks closed with gains. 780 stocks declined and 63 stocks ended flat.