Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 102.91 crore as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
On macro data front, the government unveils Q2 September 2013 GDP growth data after trading hours today.
The sensex opened higher at 20,558.93 and advanced further to 20,819.77 before quoting at 20,799.19 at 1030hrs, showing a sharp gain of 264.28 points of 1.29 per cent from its last close.
Major gainers were SSLT (2.80 pct), ICICI Bank (2.73 pct), Cipla (2.36 pct), SBI (2.15 pct), Gail India (2.14 pct), ONGC (1.93 pct), ITC (1.91 pct) and HDFC Bank (1.84 pct).
Asian stocks were trading mixed in their early trade. Key benchmark indices in China, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan were up 0.03 to 0.54 pct while indices in South Korea, Singapore, and Japan were down 0.14 to 0.36 pct.
